Italy - Cinque Terre - Land of Beautiful Villages and Hundreds of Steps

We took a train from Florence to La Spezia Central, grab a bus to the hostel, and got settled into our hostel real quick. We made friends with Juanita at the hostel and she showed us the ropes on the first day. We then went took the shuttle down to the first village Riomaggior. Explored it for a few hours and hopped over to the next village Manarola. Here we explored the village which all bunch of great shops, views, and swimming. The water was super clear and had that turquoise color all throughout it. We heard there was some good cliff diving, which we found almost right away, thanks to a few young kids already jumping off of it. There were multiple levels with the highest one being maybe around 15-20 feet. Had a blast jumping off them all day!

Amanda ended up jumping off the highest one as well and well.. didn’t land the greatest. She ended up having her knees slam into her chest, burses on her legs, and chipped a tooth… Yeah it was a pretty rough landing but she was a trooper, even more so the past few days about it (she is doing much better). After the cliff diving and swimming session we grab some dinner at a local restaurant, which was amazing! I got fresh sand lobster with a creamy tomato sauce on spaghetti, WOW!! We then headed to Corniglia to see the view of the village and grab some fantastic gelato for an hour or so. Night came to an end and we had to head back to the hostel.

Next day we decided we were going to see all 5 villages and make a long day of it. Starting off in Monterosso we hiked up high to the left and right to see what views we could see. We were going to hike to Vernazza (next village) but they were charging 7.50 Euros for it… F that since it is only a 1.5-2 hour hike… We decided to just hike back, grab some lunch on the beach, and hop on the tram to Vernazza The tram connects all the villages together, which is super nice way to get to and from the villages quickly. Vernazza is the smallest village but packs a huge punch. Just a beautiful looking village from any direction! We grab some gelato since it was a hot day from all the stairs and hiking we have been doing. No surprise, it was fantastic and super cheap for two scoops. We took all the pictures and again hiked up both the right and left to see the village from all sides. Next, we went to Corniglia Once you get off the train you need to hike up to the village, since it is the highest from the sea. 365 stairs (one for every day) later you’re at the top! Great panoramic views all over the village, bunch of little shops, and restaurants. We only grab a glass of wine and sat in the shade to cool down. Then headed to Manarola where we hiked up both sides to see the views of the village. This was my favorite city of them all. Great food, people, swimming, cliff diving, and the views are outstanding! Amanda ended up hiking around a bit while I went back into the water for some swimming and cliff diving.

Now we are both pretty drained from a long hot day walking up and down countless stairs in all of the villages, we decided to head back to Riomaggiore (starting and pick-up point). Hiked around, got some great shots, check out some shops, and grabbed dinner. Again, the food was outstanding!!! Amanda got the freshly made lasagna and I got this crazy dish made of spaghetti, eggs, bacon, parmesan, black pepper, and a cream sauce. Yeah both dishes were orgasmic! Afterwards we watched the sunset from the marina, caught some of the World Cup, and headed back to our pickup point. Overall, Cinque Terra was non-stop awesomness wherever you look. Food, people, sites, gelato, wine, and just everything was just outstanding and I highly HIGHLY recommend visiting this area of Italy! If you do let me know because I want to join lol! But for real this is a place I would love to come back to and spend some more time hiking between the villages, around the national parks, rent some kayaks, take a boat ride, and so much more.