About a month ago, I found myself exploring the beaches of Italy. I had flown to Milan for the weekend to catch up with an old college friend who also recently moved to Europe. Since the lovely coastal region of Cinque Terre is only a few hours away by train, we decided to spend one of our days exploring the beaches and adorable villages of that region. It was actually very easy to do Cinque Terre in one day!
Where is Cinque Terre?
Before this trip, I had assumed that Cinque Terre was just a town. I had seen Instagram and Pinterest posts with beautiful photos of the villages and beaches full of many colors. I knew it was a place that I would have to visit one day.
What I came to find out on this trip is that Cinque Terre is almost like a small region with a handful of small villages. In theory, you could walk from village to village. That would take you almost a day, so we opted to take the train from town to town. The walkways between some of the villages were also closed due to environmental problems, so it wouldn’t have been possible anyway.
How to get there
You can get a train from the Milan Central Station to Monterosso al Mare, which is one of the towns in the region. The ticket was around 25-30 euros round trip. We had a little travel fail and missed our stop. I had actually second-guessed myself when we arrived to Monterosso. So we rode the train down to the next stop, which was La Spezia. From there, we caught another train up to Riomaggiore and started our trail for the day. Sometimes travel mishaps work out for the best in the end. Missing our train allowed us to see more of the region than we had planned for.
When booking transportation in Europe, I use the app GoEuro. Related: 8 Essential Travel Apps You Need Now
Stop 1: Riomaggiore
First of all, I absolutely love the name of this town! The views of the sea are also absolutely amazing! When you get off the train, you can take a little walk through the town. I would definitely recommend good walking shoes for this one, because some of it is uphill!
I had decided to do a dress and boots this day. It had been raining like crazy in Milan and it was also cold, so I went to Cinque Terre prepared! However the weather was a lot warmer than we were expecting! It definitely made for some nice photos!
Stop 2: Manarola
This is where we met all of the tourists! You of course cannot do Cinque Terre in one day without running into some tourists. Luckily, we were still able to capture some good shots.
You can ride the train from Riomaggiore to Manarola for only a few euros. Once off the train, just follow the people to the center of the village!
I really loved the view from Manarola. You can climb up with hill that overlooks both the water and the village. So of course, we had to do a mini photo shoot there!
Stop 3: Vernazza
We made it to this town just as the sun was setting. Vernazza has an amazing view of the entire town. You can walk along the water and capture some great shots. We were also super hungry by this point, so we grabbed some pizza by the water.
Last stop
Due to timing, we ended up watching the sunset in Vernazza. We still had to take the train to Monterosso since we had return tickets to Milan from there. It’s funny how life works out sometimes. We didn’t end up seeing Monterosso during the day, but we explored three other absolutely stunning towns. I’m now in my head planning my future trip to Cinque Terre. I’d love to stay in some of those towns and hike between them!
Overall, it was so easy to do Cinque Terre in one day!
If you’re looking to explore more of Italy, Campania is a wonderful region to look into!
What I wore
As mentioned above, I opted for warmth since it was cold and rainy in Milan. The red dress was actually bought in a street market about a year ago when I went to Guadix. The boots were bought in a shop in Spain that I honestly cannot remember the name of. So I’ve linked a few similar items here.
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