The Cinque Terre are five villages on the Ligurian coast north of La Spezia: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso, built where steep valleys meet the sea and surrounded by vines on dry stone terraces. Since 1997 they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Portovenere and its islands, and the land and the sea around them are a national park and a marine protected area.
The coastal path between the villages and Riomaggiore's main street are on Italy's list. This page covers the rest: the public boats, the castle above Vernazza's harbour, the stairs up to Corniglia, the view and the Christmas lights of Manarola, Monterosso's beach and old churches, the sanctuary paths in the hills, the growers' cooperative that makes Sciacchetrà and the anchovies of Monterosso.
See the five villages from the sea on the public boats
Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso landings
Half a day to a full dayNo booking needed
One day ticket on the Line 02 boats lets you hop between the cliff villages by sea as often as you like.
What it is
The Consorzio Marittimo Turistico Cinque Terre Golfo dei Poeti runs Line 02 from La Spezia, Lerici and Portovenere to Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso, and on to Levanto. Corniglia, up on its cliff, has no landing. The boats are separate from the Cinque Terre Card.
How to do it
The day ticket lets you get on and off as often as you like and costs €42 for adults; the afternoon ticket, sold at the ticket offices from 14:00, costs €28, and a single hop from Riomaggiore to Manarola is €10. Buy online until the day before, or on the day at the harbour ticket offices.
Good to know
The full timetable runs from late March to 1 November; from 2 November to 8 December a reduced trip sails from La Spezia and Portovenere to Vernazza and Monterosso only. Rough seas cancel sailings, and the consortium posts each day's changes from 8:00.
Climb to Vernazza's Doria castle above the harbour
Castello Doria, Vernazza
1 hourNo booking needed
A steep stair to a castle tower more than 70 metres above the only real harbour of the five villages.
What it is
Vernazza has the only real harbour of the five villages, and under Genoa it was fortified for galleys, with a repair yard of its own. The Doria castle on the rock above guarded it from more than 70 metres up. It is recorded from the 13th century, on an older Obertenghi lookout, and its oldest part is the tall cylindrical tower, restored in the 20th century; the Belforte bastion stands just below, by the harbour mouth. At the end of the Second World War German troops used the castle as an anti-aircraft post.
How to do it
A long, steep stair is still the only way up. From the top you look down on the boats and on the church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia, begun around 1318, whose octagonal bell tower narrows into a pointed dome.
Walk out to Punta Bonfiglio for the view back at Manarola
Punta Bonfiglio, Manarola
1 hourFree
Manarola's houses stacked on the rock above the harbour, seen from the headland next door in the hour before sunset.
What it is
The best-known view of Manarola, its houses stacked on the rock above the harbour, is from Punta Bonfiglio, the headland next to the village. Uphill from the harbour, the church of San Lorenzo, from 1338, has a rose window of Carrara marble dated 1375.
How to do it
Start at the Marina, the tiny harbour at the bottom of the main street, where the boats are kept along Via Birolli and lowered into the water with a small winch. From there a walkway, opened in 1968, runs round the point towards the old Palaedo landing, and the village cemetery sits on the top of the headland. Turn back halfway round for the view of the façades.
Good to know
Come in the hour before sunset, when the colours are warmest, then stay until the lights come on.
A railway worker's nativity of almost 300 figures made from scrap, lit across a terraced vineyard above the village.
What it is
In 1961 Mario Andreoli, a railway worker from Manarola, put lights on the crosses of the Tre Croci hill above the village. From 1976 he filled the terraced vineyard below them with a nativity of his own, and by his death in December 2022, aged 94, he had made almost 300 figures out of scrap: old shutters, plastic and wooden crates and iron rods. The display now covers about 4,000 square metres of hillside and uses some 7 km of cable, and an association named after him runs it with the national park and the town.
How to do it
Watch from the square in front of the church of San Lorenzo, or from the paths between Manarola and Riomaggiore.
Good to know
It is usually switched on around 8 December, with a torchlight procession, and stays lit into January; the 2026 date is not yet published, so check before you go.
Climb the Lardarina steps to Corniglia, the village with no harbour
Corniglia
2 hoursFree
The village on a headland the boats cannot reach, up 377 steps from the station, with a wine found in the Decameron.
What it is
Corniglia is the one village the boats cannot reach: it sits on a headland about 90 metres above the sea, and the railway station lies far below it. In the village, the parish church of San Pietro is a 14th-century Ligurian Gothic building on the remains of an 11th-century chapel, with two coloured windows by Trento Longaretti behind the high altar. Corniglia's wine is old news: Boccaccio has a character in the Decameron restored with a good glass of Vernaccia di Corniglia.
How to do it
The Lardarina stairway climbs from the station to the village in 33 flights and 377 steps, with views of Manarola on the way. At the top, follow Via Fieschi from Largo Taragio to the Terrazza di Santa Maria, a lookout over the coast.
Good to know
If you would rather ride, a village bus runs up from the station and is included in the Cinque Terre Card.
Swim below the Giant on Monterosso's Fegina seafront
Fegina, Monterosso al Mare
Half a dayNo booking needed
A station that opens straight onto the seafront, and a 14-metre concrete Neptune leaning on the rock at the far end.
What it is
Monterosso is the most visited of the five villages and the one built for a day by the sea. At the far end of Fegina stands the Giant, a figure of Neptune 14 metres high and weighing 170 tonnes, made in reinforced concrete in 1910 by the architect Francesco Levacher and the sculptor Arrigo Minerbi. It once held up a large shell-shaped terrace for the Villa Pastine; Second World War bombing damaged it, and what remains leans on a spur of rock above the beach named after it.
How to do it
The station opens straight onto Fegina, the newer part of town along the shore, while the old village lies beyond the San Cristoforo headland, with the 16th-century Aurora tower on its tip.
Good to know
Come in June or September, when the seafront is less crowded than in August.
Walk from Monterosso's striped church up to the Capuchin convent
Monterosso al Mare old village
1.5 hoursFree
Black and white Genoese bands and the marks of the 2011 flood, then a hilltop convent with a Crucifixion attributed to van Dyck.
What it is
In the old village, the parish church of San Giovanni Battista was built between 1282 and 1307. Its façade carries the black and white bands of Genoese buildings, a finely carved rose window and a lunette fresco of the Baptism of Christ over the door, and its bell tower is a crenellated medieval tower. The 16th-century Aurora tower, which Genoa built as a lookout against raiders, stands on the tip of the San Cristoforo headland.
How to do it
Then walk up the San Cristoforo hill to the Capuchin convent and church of San Francesco, built from 1619 to 1622, where the Touring Club guide attributes a Crucifixion to Anthony van Dyck.
Good to know
On the church's left side, look for the flood marks: in 2011 more than two metres of water and mud poured into the church.
Climb to the Montenero sanctuary on the Way of the Sanctuaries
Santuario di Nostra Signora di Montenero, Riomaggiore
1.5 hours there and back from RiomaggioreFree
Montenero is the one hill sanctuary with no road: a 55-minute climb through the terraces above Riomaggiore.
What it is
Each village has its sanctuary on the hill above it, and the Strada dei Santuari links all five at mid height: Soviore above Monterosso, Reggio above Vernazza, San Bernardino above Corniglia, Volastra above Manarola and Montenero above Riomaggiore. The whole route is about 22 km and seven hours, graded for experienced hikers, so most people pick one climb. Montenero is the only sanctuary with no road.
How to do it
From the Marina of Riomaggiore, trail 593V climbs 296 metres in 1.3 km through the terraces, about 55 minutes up and 30 back down; trail 593 is the gentler, less scenic alternative. For a shorter stage of the full route, Soviore to Reggio is about 4 km, roughly an hour. From Vernazza station a paved path of about 2 km climbs to Reggio, at 325 metres.
Good to know
There is water at Soviore, Reggio, San Bernardino and Volastra.
Taste Sciacchetrà at the growers' cooperative in Groppo
Cantina Cinque Terre, Groppo (Manarola)
2 hoursBook ahead
About 220 growers bring their terrace grapes to a stone cellar above Manarola, and you taste the result there.
What it is
The Cantina Cinque Terre is the winegrowers' cooperative of the five villages, founded in 1973: about 220 members farm 46 hectares of terraces and bring their grapes to a cellar opened in 1982 at Groppo, above Manarola, built in the same stone as the terrace walls. It makes some 200,000 bottles a year of Cinque Terre DOC white, from Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino, and of Sciacchetrà, the sweet wine made from the same grapes after drying.
How to do it
A cellar tour runs on weekdays at 11:00. The tasting with a visit, two dry wines and a Sciacchetrà, costs €30, or €45 with a light lunch; book ahead. On foot it is about 40 minutes uphill from Manarola, or the cooperative can drive you from Riomaggiore, Manarola or La Spezia for €50 including the tasting.
Good to know
The shop next to the cellar takes walk-in tastings during opening hours.
Eat Monterosso's anchovies, fried in June and salted all year
Monterosso al Mare
A mealNo booking needed
Monterosso calls its anchovies the bread of the sea: fished at night by lamplight, then fried fresh or packed in salt.
What it is
In Monterosso anchovies are called the bread of the sea. From 29 June, the feast of Saint Peter, small boats go out at night to fish them with the lampara, a bright lamp that draws the shoals, and a purse seine net. Some of the catch is fried fresh; the rest is salted. Headed and gutted, they spend a few hours in salt, then are packed in rings in chestnut barrels or terracotta jars, each layer salted, pressed under a wooden disc with about ten kilos on top and left in the dark for 40 to 60 days, until firm and pink to brown.
How to do it
Order them rinsed and dressed with oil, oregano and a hint of garlic, with a glass of Cinque Terre white.
Good to know
The village holds a fried anchovy festival in June and a salted anchovy festival in September; check the dates before you go.
Hike the Cinque Terre coastal path with the right card
Cinque Terre
Half a day for one or two stretchesNo booking needed
Five villages joined by one coastal path: walk it in stretches, start early, and let the train carry you back.
What it is
The famous route is the Sentiero Verde Azzurro, the coastal path linking the five villages in stretches. Walking it requires a Cinque Terre Card from the national park, sold online and at its info points from La Spezia to Levanto.
How to do it
The Trekking Card covers the trails and village buses; the Train Card adds unlimited regional trains, the easy way back. Check the park's trail page the morning you walk, because sections close after storms and landslides. On the busiest spring dates of 2026 the Monterosso to Vernazza stretch ran one way only, from Monterosso towards Vernazza, until 14:00.
Good to know
Start early, as the stretches between Monterosso, Vernazza and Corniglia have little shade. Trains between Corniglia and La Spezia stop for 48 hours on set winter weekends, so check before you plan.
Time needed
Half a day for one or two stretches
Best time
Early morning, April to June or September to October
Wander Riomaggiore from Via Colombo down to the harbour
Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre
2 to 3 hoursFree
Tall painted houses drop down Via Colombo to a tiny harbour, and the sea path gives you the stacked façades in late-afternoon light.
What it is
Riomaggiore is the southernmost of the five villages and the first stop from La Spezia, so it fills each time a train comes in. From the station, a tunnel leads to Via Colombo, the main street, which drops through tall painted houses to a tiny harbour where boats sit on the slipway.
How to do it
Walk past the boats and take the steps up to the path along the sea for the view back at the stacked façades, warmest in late afternoon. The Via dell'Amore to Manarola starts here: since its 2024 reopening it is walked one way, Riomaggiore to Manarola, on a booked time slot, and the Cinque Terre Card includes it.
Good to know
Buy a bottle of Sciacchetrà, the local sweet wine, rather than another magnet.
Regional trains on the Genoa to La Spezia line stop at all five villages, and every village has its own station. La Spezia Centrale is the nearest main station: from Pisa, Florence or Rome you change there. From Milan you change at Genoa or La Spezia. Cars are kept out of the village centres and parking is scarce, so leave the car in La Spezia and take the train.
Getting around
Local trains between La Spezia, the five villages and Levanto are the quickest link and get very crowded in high season. The public boats of the Golfo dei Poeti consortium stop at Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso, not at Corniglia, from late March to 1 November. Small buses run up from the stations into the hills and are included in the Cinque Terre Card.
Where to base yourself
Sleep in one of the villages to have the evenings, when the day trippers have left; book early for late June to August, when rooms fill up. La Spezia has far more hotels and is the hub for both trains and boats. Levanto, just north of Monterosso, is the other base, with campsites and the same trains.
When to go
April to June and September to October are best for walking; in June to August start early, because the sun on the terraces is strong. The full boat timetable runs from late March to 1 November, and from 2 November to 8 December a reduced trip sails only to Vernazza and Monterosso. Manarola's nativity is lit from early December to mid January. Check train times on Sundays and holidays, when waits are longer.
Questions travellers ask
Can you get to Corniglia by boat?
No. Corniglia stands on a headland about 90 metres above the sea and has no landing, so the boats call only at Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso. Arrive by train and climb the 377 steps of the Lardarina, or take the village bus from the station.
How much is the Cinque Terre boat day ticket?
On the Golfo dei Poeti consortium's current fare list the day ticket costs €42 for adults and lets you get on and off at every landing of Line 02. An afternoon ticket, sold at the ticket offices from 14:00, costs €28, and single hops start at €10 from Riomaggiore to Manarola. The boats are not part of the Cinque Terre Card.
When is the Manarola nativity lit?
Every Christmas season since 1961, from early December to mid January. It is usually switched on on 8 December; the 2025 edition was lit on 7 December and stayed on until 18 January 2026. It lights up at dusk each evening, and the best view is from the square in front of the church of San Lorenzo.
Is there an easier walk than the coastal path?
Yes: the paths to the sanctuaries above the villages. From Vernazza station, a paved path of about 2 km climbs to the sanctuary of Reggio, at 325 metres. From Riomaggiore, trail 593V reaches Montenero in about 55 minutes, with 296 metres of climbing.
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