Cinque Terre is a group of five villages located in the Italian Riviera. It’s become famous for the colorful buildings and beautiful coastline. In this post we go through how to take a day trip to Cinque Terre including how to get there and the best way to get between all the villages.
Because Cinque Terre is more than one town, it requires a bit more planning in terms of what you’re looking to do. You can easily visit just one or two of the villages and see beautiful areas. Or you can try to do them all in a day. It just depends on how much time you have and what you’re looking to see. They all are slightly different but generally you’ll see a lot of colorful buildings and beautiful water so don’t feel like you need to see all 5 just for the sake of it.
You can stay in any of the villages but it’ll definitely cost you more than other nearby areas. For our budget it was much more realistic to stay outside and take a day trip. So we stayed in Rapallo which sits north of Cinque Terre near Portofino. There are so many beautiful options nearby so don’t feel like you HAVE to stay in one of the villages to experience Cinque Terre. Getting to the area is very easy by train or boat.
- In general the time of year you are visiting will greatly impact the cost of staying in this whole area. The busier summer months will absolutely cost more as so many visitors flock to the Italian Riviera.
How to Get Between the Villages
You actually can’t drive into the center of any of the villages so having a car won’t be too helpful in this area. It’s actually much easier to use trains to get between the villages. Each of the villages has a train station close by so you don’t need to worry about any other transportation!
- If you have a Eurail Pass that is valid in Italy trains between all 5 of the villages are included at no additional cost!
Cinque Terre Treno Card
If you want to take the train and visit a few, or all, of the villages you can buy a Cinque Terre Treno Card. This card gives you access to unlimited train rides for a specific length of time as well as other benefits. A day for the Treno ticket is considered from whenever you validate the ticket to midnight. A 1 day ticket is 13-16 Euros while a two day ticket is 23-29 Euros depending on the time of year.
Whether the Cinque Terre Treno Card makes sense for you depends on the time of year you’re visiting (the high season and low season have slightly different prices) as well as how many trains you are planning to take and for how many days. You can buy the Cinque Terre Treno card online as well as at the park welcome center.
- A regular train ticket from one village to the other costs about 4 Euros so if you only want to visit two villages (one train ride) it makes sense to just buy the one ticket.
- I think the card makes more sense for people who are spending more than one day and looking to be able to go back and forth frequently.
- If you don’t want to buy the Cinque Terre Treno Card, there are ticket machines at the train stations where you can buy a single ticket. Don’t forget to validate it before getting on the train!
Cinque Terre Hiking Card
There are hiking paths between the villages that you can take advantage of and get amazing views! However, it’s important before your visit to look up which routes are open. Currently the path from Monterosso to Vernazza is open and takes about 2 hours and is very steep with lots of ups and downs. As well the path from Vernazza to Corniglia is open and takes about an hour and a half. Right now the path from Corniglia to Manarola and Manarola to Riomaggiore are both closed.
To hike you need the Cinque Terre Hiking Card which gives you access to the paths to hike between villages. For 1 day it cost 7.50 Euros and can be purchased online as well as at the hiking checkpoint on the path.
Travel Truth: We really wanted to do one of the open hikes because we love coastal hikes! We’ve done similar ones in Greece and France and absolutely loved them! However, the day we were in Cinque Terre it was unbelievably hot. So hot that there was no way we could hike for 2+ hours in the sun. We were a little disappointed but taking the train really is so easy and let us see more of the villages!
Read Our 4 Day Guide to Visiting the Italian Riviera for other places to visit in this beautiful area!
Monterosso al Mare
Monterosso Al Mare is the most northern of the five villages. Stepping out from the Monterosso train station puts you right on the beaches. Monterosso is known for having the largest, most accessible beaches. Here you’ll find the beaches to be a bit more commercial with chairs and space to lay out.
- The town of Monterosso is a short walk from the train station. The walk between is beautiful as it follows the coastline and rewards you with amazing views!
- The main town area is rather large compared to the other villages and has plenty of streets to wander through with shops, restaurants and cafes.
- We found Monterosso to be the largest, most built up of the towns.
Vernazza
Vernazza is next to Monterosso going south. The train station drops you off right in the heart of the town. In Vernazza there is one main road so while it feels physically smaller than Monterosso, it still has so much to it. There are so many food options in Vernazza like quick seafood restaurants, gelato shops and cafes. There is a large beach in the port as well as another one through a small cave a few minutes away.
- Vernazza was one of our favorites! It was so colorful and has two really amazing viewpoints that provide views of the whole village!
- The first viewpoint is from the left (towards Corniglia) looking out at the point that comes out to meet the harbor. You can actually see the small beach as well as part of the harbor. GPS coordinates to find this spot are 44°08’03.5″N 9°41’04.9″E.
- The second viewpoint is from the right (towards Monterosso) looking down at the boats in the harbor and all the colorful buildings that make up the town. GPS coordinates to find this spot are 44°08’11.2″N 9°40’56.5″E.
Travel Truth: Vernazza has such good spots to take photos because you can get such perspective in the pictures so make sure to give yourself enough time! It’s also one of the most photographed villages so if you’ve seen a picture of Cinque Terre it’s likely from Vernazza.
Corniglia
Corniglia is the only one the five villages that is not on the water. It is built in the hills and therefore has a different feel than the rest of the villages. Corniglia, like the rest, has a train station but because of it’s location it’s a little bit of a walk. In order to reach the town it’s over 350 stairs up. Because of this, Corniglia is often overlooked by visitors and is thought to be a little more authentic than some of the other more popular ones.
- While we fully intended to go to all 5 villages, we were enjoying Vernazza so much we couldn’t make ourselves leave! We wanted to be in Manarola for the sunset so we ended up skipping Corniglia in the interest of time. We’re bummed we didn’t get to see this underrated spot because we definitely think it has so much to offer!
Manarola
Manarola is in between Corniglia and Riomaggiore. The Main Street down to the water is beautiful and has more food options than Riomaggiore. You will find quite a few restaurants in Manarola to choose from. Even just walking from the train station down to the harbor is beautiful!
If you walk towards the water and continue to your right you’ll find a walkway that continues out along the water towards a restaurant in the distance. At the end turn around and you will get amazing views of all of Manarola! The Manarola Scenic Viewpoint is the best view of the whole village and you will see many other people taking pictures and enjoying the area.
- There are two walkways, one slightly higher and one slightly lower. Both have amazing views. The higher one has an area facing north so you can see the coastline going back towards Corniglia as well.
- There are public restrooms and a small restaurant as well.
While the sun set behind us on the water, it was so cool to see the colors of the village change as it got darker and darker. Even when it’s almost completely dark, it looks so beautiful as you see faint colors mixed with the the lights coming from the windows. Manarola is definitely a great place to be around sunset!
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore is the most southern of the five villages. The village is on the smaller side and opens up to a small boat ramp with colorful buildings on either side. I think this spot by the water is one of the best photographs of Cinque Terre! The contrast of the bold colors on both sides with the colorful fishing boats in the water is beautiful.
The best view is looking back at the village so walk to the water and then walk to the left up the path. At the top you go around a corner and then there is a small staircase leading down to the rocks. Walk down, out onto the rocks and you get a view of the whole village. Being so low to the water makes for a great picture!
- If you continue walking along the pathway you will find more rocks and spots to jump in the water. If you’re looking for a beautiful spot to jump in, you will absolutely find it in Riomaggiore. You will see people laying out and swimming as far as you can see.
Can You Do Cinque Terre in One Day?
It’s doable to do all five villages in a day trip but it is definitely a long day and you really have to start early. You also have to be mindful of how long you’re staying in each one so you have time before it gets too late.
We’ll be honest and say while we planned to do all 5 we ended up doing 4 as we ran out of time. We ended up staying in Vernazza for a while because we jumped in the water which felt amazing on such a hot day! We also wanted to be in Manarola for sunset. However, seeing 4 out of 5 was amazing and we’re so glad we did it. Cinque Terre is absolutely beautiful and definitely worth visiting! If you go during the summer months, like we did, you won’t be the only visitors but we were pleasantly surprised that none of the villages were too crowded for us to enjoy.
