The Cinque Terre are five carfree coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in Italy. "Discovered" by foreigners in the late 20th century they have become among the most touristed areas of Italy; they can be reached by train via the line from La Spezia to Genoa.
Most of the hotels in the village accept advance reservations. The best time to visit are in April-May, before the summer crowd comes, or after August, when all the crowd has left.
The five villages in order from LaSpezia are : Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.
A local train connects all the five villages from La Spezia. In addition, there are well laid out walking trails connecting each village to its neighbor. The path from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called the Via Dell'Amore (or roughly "Lovers Walk"). This winds along the shore, is very picturesque and is very easy to hike. The stretch from Manarola to Corniglia is also easy to hike. The trail from Corniglia to Vernazza is steep at certain places. The trail from Vernazza to Monterosso is by far the steepest. It winds through Olive orchards and vineyards, is rough in some places but offers the best views of the bay.
The Five Villages
Monterosso al Mare
Vernazza
Corniglia
Manarola
Riomaggiore
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