Discover Cinque Terre

We departed the pier along the Tyrrhenian Sea on a clear cool morning day from the Port of Livorno with 29 other guests. The sun was beaming through the right side of the bus on a journey to the National Park of Cinque Terre.

Livorno, Italy

1 Hour Drive

A notable site on our bus journey was the Apuan Alps where the Carrara quarries reside. The mountains appear as though they are covered in snow, when in fact this is merely the effect of marble strip mining.

*There were miles of these marble processing facilities*

*Italy ships over 669,000 tons of marble each year*

*The Apuan Alps where the majority of the Italian marble is excavated*

This entire region is also famous for the production of Olive Oil in the ranges of Extra Virgin 0 – 1; Virgin – Over 1; and Standard Olive Oil – Over 2. Pesto sauce which is a regional specialty of the La Spezia province.

Vezzano Ligure, Italy

25 minute rest stop

We stopped at a rest area off the A12 that afforded a cliff-side view of the village of Vezzano Ligure. Often villages were built on the tops of cliffs to protect from Pirates, Malaria and outbreaks of Yellow Fever.

**Vezzano Ligure** is a hilltop town almost at the Tuscany border. It is only a few miles from the port city of La Spezia.

*The town dates to early Roman era times and the famous Pentagonal Tower is one of its landmarks*

Soon we were back on the road and headed towards Cinque Terre National Park.

Port of La Spezia, Italy

15 minute drive

Cruise lines like Royal Caribbean make use of the Port of La Spezia for its closer proximity to the region. An additional tour guide, Cierna, boarded our tour bus here.

Filled with information about the port, Cierna told us how Napeleon had been here as late as 1808 and wished to construct a Military port at La Spezia. However, before they could complete construction Napeleon had been all but defeated.

Overlooking the Port of LaSpezia, Italy

1 minute photo stop in roadway

The tour bus made a quick on road photo stop overlooking the Port of La Spezia. We we’re not able to get exit so all photos were taken from the windows.

*The overlook of the Port of LaSpezia was on the right side of the bus*

Cinque Terre National Park, Italy

20 minute drive

Soon after we entered the area of the Cinque Terre National Park, the smallest national park in Italy, comprising the five villages of La Spezia, Levanto, Monterosso al Mare, Riomaggiore and Vernazza. These villages are all interconnected by a footpath, boat and train service.

Toll Booth at Cinque Terre National Park, Italy

10 minute wait

The bus now made a stop to pay required tolls to travel further. We waited here for 10 minutes while another bus exited the area as motor coach traffic is very limited. To the left side of the bus sat the small village of Riomaggiore. Normally this would be the second stop on the tour but due to a large rock on the Via dell’Amore our itinerary had been updated.

Manarola, Cinque Terre

40 minute visit

After a short wait our bus got the go ahead and we quickly arrived in Manarola. Here we walked down a rather long series of steps followed by a steep downhill and into the village.

The Village of Manarola was packed with shops and places to eat

*An overview in the middle of town gave us a great view of the ocean*

Camera shutters were flying as photographs were being snapped all along the journey.

Marina of Manarola, Cinque Terre

15 minute boat ride

After sightseeing in the village we headed to the marina to catch a boat to Village of Vernazza.

*Our transport to the Village of Vernazza*

The waiting crowds were enormous and we ended up not getting aboard until the second boat. Most folks immediately headed to the top deck, but I had found a nice spot near the back of the main level.

*The view as we left the Village of Manarola*

The views from the boat would turn out to be the absolute best of the day!

*Another little village along our route nestled into the rock*

View of Corniglia, Cinque Terre

Views from Boat only

On the way to Vernazza we spotted the edge of the Village of Corniglia sitting atop a high cliff top with no sea access.

*Corniglia is a subdivision of Vernazza located outside of the main town*

Vernazza, Cinque Terre

20 minute visit

We stepped off the boat into the stunning Village of Vernazza. Although we had just a whisper of time, one could easily have spent half the day or longer.

*A nice restaurant that was just setting up for the lunch crowd*

*The quite and quaint Village of Vernazza*

Marina of Vernazza, Cinque Terre

10 minute boat ride

Again we boarded the second boat as the first one had became overly full.

*The ocean view of Monterosso as we were coming in*

This ride was much quicker than the first and soon we had stepped off the boat at the Village of Monterosso.

Monterosso, Cinque Terre

3 hour visit

Once gathered as a group we proceeded to a quick viewing and history of the Church of San Giovanni Battista -or- Saint John the Baptist.

*The facad of Saint John the Baptist church of made of black and white marble*

*The inside of the church was unique and charming*

After the Church visit we were left to our own devices. Leslee and I headed up the street looking for a lunch Cafe.

On the way we stumbled across the Oratory of Santa Croce.

*The Oratory of Santa Croce dates back to the 15th century*

*The outside of the church was painted with the typical black and white stipes found across Italy*

We had our lunch at the Café of Il Piccolo Diavolo The Little Devil, where we had the Traditional Pizza of Italy, Alla Diavola, and some afternoon wine. We ate at a table in front of the café just people watching and relaxing.

*The Cafe of Il Piccolo Diavolo is on the right*

After lunch we walked up to the top of San Cristoforo Hill and its main road then back down the other side.

*There are many shops and restaurants to visit*

Next we decided to head through the car tunnel to the old maritime village on the other side. It was here that we grabbed some Gelato to commemorate our visit.

*In the walk through between the two parts of Monterosso*

*The older side of Monterosso was a small sea-side village*

We hung out at the overlook of the beach and soaked in the sights and tranquil breeze for the remainder of our visit. As we had come on the next-to-last weekend of the tourist season most shops were making preparations to close for Winter.

*Boating is a favorite pastime of the residents of Monterosso*

Train Station Monterosso, Cinque Terre

15 minute walk

We met up with our group at the scheduled rendezvous time and began the ten-minute walk to the Monterosso train station which is the largest of the five stations in Cinque Terre. This was all too familiar as we had made this journey three years earlier on the Coast of Cinque Terre & Porto Venere Tour.

*The express route between Levanto and La Spezia*

Once aboard we rode for just a single stop exiting at the Levanto, Italy station.

Levanto, Italy

1 hour 45 minute drive

Our coach and driver were waiting just outside the station for the return journey to the Port of Livorno. On the return trip I was able to capture a distant photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa at 40x zoom.