If you’ve never heard of the Cinque Terre, look it up now. Look it up as an individual area or look up each of it’s towns separately – Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia.
Vernazza, Cinque Terre
That’s right, it’s a beautiful little area (National park, actually) on the Italian Riviera in the province of Liguria – you know, where pesto comes from – and I would almost say that the beauty of the Cinque Terre rivals that of the Amalfi Coast. Almost. The two places have completely different atmospheres though, so be sure to visit both if you can handle the sunshine and loveliness of it all.
Vernazza, Cinque Terre
Although the Cinque Terre is becoming increasingly popular with non-Italians, I’m still surprised when people haven’t heard of it. I went there for the first time 10 years ago on my very first trip to Italy. My travel-planner-extraordinnaire mom had heard travel guru Rick Steves rave about the wonders of these little harbour towns and worked a stop at the Cinque Terre into our family’s month-long trip to Italy. All I can say is, good job Mamma! It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful and it’s beautiful there. With boats and beaches, 5 quaint little car-free villages, a castle and kilometres of treacherous wonderfully maintained hiking paths that wind their way along the coast high above the turquoise-blue waters, what more could you ask for?
Monterosso, Cinque Terre
As most places in Italy do, the Cinque Terre’s got a bit of a romantic side to it, so for the February/March issue of Panoram Italia, the magazine I’ve recently started writing for, I chose to write a travel article on a little bit of romance in the Cinque Terre.
Care to read more?
Click here: http://www.panoramitalia.com/en/travel/article/lovers-walk/1396/
Vernazza, Cinque Terre
Not Just Another "Dolce Vita" 
Those pathways are treacherous and regularly collapse…take the boat between villages, it is much more fun.
The four coastal paths between the five villages are all closed to walkers due to landslides or risk of landslides. Come to the Garfagnana instead. I admit we don’t have the sea, but otherwise our villages are equally picturesque and you won’t be shoulder to shoulder and nose to tail with other tourists.
Hi Is Garfagnana safe for solo travellers? Can you get there by public transport and what about accommodation? IS it reasonable. regards Liz
That first photo is still in the photo collage in our family room 🙂 A little reminder of you!
Grazie for the great photos. Like Liz I would also like to know if you can recommend any accommodation near Garfagnana. I tried sites like http://www.trivago.ca but didn’t find anything worth watching.