We rounded off our trip to Italy with a 3 night stay in Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre means “five lands” and we visited all of them. The 5 towns are named Manarola, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Riomaggiore and Corniglia. We stayed in Riomaggiore in an airbnb in the town center. The town consists of one major walkway lined with bars, shops, and restaurants. There is a train station here and it will take you to the other towns. There is also a hiking path in the cliffs above Riomaggiore. That was my favorite part of the whole town. To be honest, there wasn’t much to do in Riomaggiore or any of the other 4 towns in Cinque Terre. Don’t get me wrong, I think you should see Cinque Terre because it is very much like a postcard but we stayed way too many nights here. I think 2 full days is all you need on the coast here.

Unless you have a lot of money to spend, you will be eating crappy food and staying in Airbnbs that aren’t cheap but should be. Now, if you are an experienced hiker, Cinque Terre is probably far more up your alley. A lot of the trails were closed due to previous rainstorms that made debris fall onto the paths. We hiked a bit but I am not a hardcore hiker so hiking anymore than we did would have been very challenging for me. Our Airbnb host told us that you can hike from town to town! I recommend not really having a plan and just sort of bouncing from town to town. The views are stunning and you will DEFINITELY get exercise because you are just walking the entire time. Again, this is just my opinion and I am sure some other travelers have enjoyed Cinque Terre. I did enjoy my time on the coast and the views made it all worth it but I personally just don’t think a lot of time needs to be spent here. See the cliffs and the blue water. See the 5 towns. Enjoy a nice hike with an ocean breeze. Go somewhere else to get a decently priced meal that is delicious.