Never stop wondering. Never stop wandering.

Cinque Terre is a coastal area in the northwestern part of Italy made up of five different towns Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Cornigila, Manarola and Riomaggiore. The five towns and surrounding hills are part of the Cinque Terre National Park and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cinque Terre has been found to have been mentioned in documents that date back to the 11th century. We stopped at three of the five towns on our tour. All five towns are connected by a trail so you are able to hike between the different towns if you would like. We did a day tour from Florence so we did not have to worry about transportation but I wish we would have spent a few days here because it was absolutely breathtaking. The only way to access the towns is by the train.

Manarola

Manarola is a comune of Riomaggiore and is the second smallest of the five towns in Cinque Terre. It dates back to the 12th century. This was our first stop and we hiked up through the town and along the mountain side to the other side of the town. It took about 25 minutes and was gorgeous!

Vernazza

We stopped and had lunch in Vernazza. When we got off of the train our tour guide told everyone that her favorite restaurant is here in this town and you have to go up the road from the train station or there are lots of restaurants down by the water through the town. Everyone in our group went down to the water and we asked her which restaurant was her favorite and how to get there. She told us it was at the top of the street and all we could remember was that it had something to do with pirates. We kept walking and walking until we found it and we are SO glad we listened to her because at this restaurant we had some of the best foods we have ever had! It was called Il Pirata delle 5 Terre. Nic ordered a frozen lemonade and it was super good and I had a glass of white wine. Each region of Italy is known for different things and this region of Italy is known for their white wine, lemons, pesto and fish. We both wanted to get the pesto ravioli but we decided that we need to try more things while we were here so Nic got the pesto ravioli and I ordered the sea bass. OMG I can’t even express to you how our lives were changed by these two dishes. We both aren’t super big on fish but we were both going crazy over how delicious this sea bass was. It was so fresh and flavorful and did not taste fishy at all. I love pesto and apparently I have never had real pesto until I had this pesto ravioli. It was so bold in taste but it was so was refreshing. To this day we still talk about how amazing both of these dishes were and that we have to go back to eat them again!

Monterosso al Mare

This was our last stop in Cinque Terre. Here we walked from one side of the town to the other and went down to the water. We brought our swim suits to get in the water but decided we didn’t have enough time to really enjoy it until we needed to get back to our tour group. The weather was also starting to move in by this time since it was the late afternoon. We love the rain and it did end up raining on us for a while and we loved it. Like I stated earlier different regions of Italy are known for different things so while we were here we got a basil gelato and a lemon gelato. The basil one was super refreshing and just so different than any gelato I have ever had! Nic got the lemon gelato served in a frozen lemon and he ended up not liking it so I ate it as well. It was very sour but I also enjoyed it. Monterosso also has the Spaiaggia il Gigante which was originally created in 1910 made out of concrete by a Jewish Italian sculptor and located at The Villa Pastine. In 1937 the creator was forced into hiding due to his Jewish ancestry. After the war The Villa Pastine had encountered bombings in which the Gigante had lost his arms, his trident and a giant seashell that he was holding on his back. In the 60s the statue also endured more deterioration due to rough seas and weathering. Today he sits on the edge of the cliff with no arms and weathered but he is still magnificent.

Cinque Terre is definitely on our list of places to visit again! Next time we want to do a pesto making class! Is Cinque Terre someplace on your list?