Today was our trip to the Cinque Terra.
Not too early a start – we had to meet at the Piazza della Republica, only a 5 minute walk, by 8am for an 8.15 departure. We met up with our driver for the day, John, and 6 others and John indicated we had 12 in total. We were using the same tour company as the Pompei tour and soon the second bus arrived as did 2 others for the tour. 8.15 came and went as we waited for the last 2. After another 20 minutes, John was not waiting any longer so we headed off with 10. We were in John’s van with 4 others – Greg & Rose from Boston and Bill & Marion from Melbourne. There seem to be a lot more Australians around on this trip than we have struck before – more on that later.
Our drive took about 2 hours, heading west and joining the coast at a town called La Spezia. The weather was very overcast and the clouds were hugging the hills fairly closely. There was no stop along the way until we reached the first of our Cinque Terra stops – the town of Manarola. Because of our late start, this was a very quick stop as we had to take the 11.17 train along to the next town. After the bus trip most actually spent their time queuing for the loo but I managed to get down to the water and take some photos before heading down a long tunnel to get to the train station.
Riomaggiore
The train trip was very quick through the mountain and then we were in Riomaggiore. From the station there was a walk down the hill through the centre of town, the main street really just a lane way, until we reached the water. We had a little bit of time here to look around – about 30 min – before we edged our way around the cliff edge to the wharf to catch the boat along to our next town. This can be a bit of pot luck as the “wharf” is nothing more than a small concrete ledge they manage to get a gang plank down onto to get the passengers on and off the boat. So if there is anything other than pretty calm seas the boats can be cancelled.
Waiting for the boat, this is where we met up with another large group of Australians – obviously on a big bus tour. Unfortunately, these were an example of “the ugly Australian” ! Sorry Queensland readers but this was a bunch of ocker North Queenslanders, pushing their way into the line with a “Barry McKenzie” yobbo loudly doing his best worst ocker Italian impersonation with all the people getting off the boat. On the boat, they stayed at the front so we headed to the back (but we could still hear “Barry” carrying on) – and luckily they didn’t get off at our next stop – Vernazza.
Lunch stop in Vernazza
Here we had about an hour and a half to have a look around and get some lunch. It is probably the biggest of the towns we stopped at and was obviously the popular choice for every other tour to stop at for lunch ! All the restaurants near the water looked pretty full so we wandered further along the main street to see what we could find. There were a few panini or pizza slice shops but we had wanted to try some of the local specialties recommended by John so we headed back down to the waters edge and managed to get a table at a little restaurant – Giani Franzi – where we shared Fritto Misto and a local pasta specialty Trophe – small little spiral shaps – with a delicious pesto and salad.
On the boat looking back to Corniglia
All the towns are really quite small and probably overwhelmed with the tourist numbers. The area is famous for its walks but otherwise there is not much “touristy” for the numbers visiting. The area is also still recovering from a big flood and landslides in 2011 so some of the roads and walks are still being repaired. We were picked up again here by John about 2.15pm – by which time a little sun was appearing from behind the clouds – and headed to our last town – Corniglia.
Looking along the coast from Corniglia
This town was high on a hill and has no boat access and is a lot quieter in tourist numbers. Being high, it has spectacular views back to Manarola and Riomaggiore. After a delicious Gelato, we boarded the bus for our trip back to Florence.
mmmm !! Gelato !
We did have one more photo stop on a hill above La Spezia. The harbour here is quite big and there is a naval yard here. It also takes cruise ships so the numbers from these can pack the Cinque Terra towns when they arrive. All in all it was a lovely day, although the overcast weather for most of the time meant we probably didn’t see it at its best. We feel that despite the weather effect, Amalfi and Positano were nicer as they coped better with the tourists. But the Cinque Terra was certainly worth the visit !!