Cinque Terre (Days 1 & 2)

What we did:
- We arrived at Manarola (the town in which we were staying) at midday after taking a taxi at 6am from our hotel in Taormina, then a flight from Catania to Pisa, and then three trains to get to Manarola. We had reserved a hostel for our stay, but once we checked into the the hostel they informed us that they upgraded us to an apartment. It was awesome! Big apartment with great views of the Main Street and harbor of Manarola, with a washing machine to boot! Safe to say this was one of our favorite lodging situations of the trip thus far!
- After some brief research, we took off on the hike from Manarola to Corniglia (roughly 2 hours). Halfway through the hike, after climbing through backyards, steep inclines, vines, lots of bugs, rundown paths, no views, and not seeing a single person within the first hour and a half, we discovered we may have taken the wrong route. Not to worry though, we met up with the “right” path and proceeded tn have amazing views of vineyards and the Mediterranean on the remainder of the hike down to Corniglia.
- After strolling through Corniglia, Trent found an awesome ocean front bar for us to grab a drink at. It was VERY hot that day, temps are 95 degrees, no clouds, and little wind coupled with a good amount of hiking had us really looking forward to this drink. Bar was awesome but there was little shade and lots of sun, so we couldn’t stay too long or we may have left larger puddles of sweat than we already had.
- Took the bus and train back to Manarola and watched the sunset from our balcony. We then went to a fun pizzeria that Doug and Sally had gone to during their visit, and headed home for an early bedtime!
- Woke up on day two ready to hike the Blue Trail from Corniglia through Vernazza to Monterosso. Grabbed a quick breakfast from the takeout version of our same pizzeria restaurant from the night before. Hopped on the train to Corniglia and started our hike! Had great views of each of the towns, mountains, and sea this day. Stopped midway between Corniglia and Vernazza at a bar that is located at the highest point of the Blue Trail. Trent grabbed us some smoothies and we had amazing views of a very sparkly Mediterranean Sea!
- We continued our hike down to Vernazza and walked around the town a bit before grabbing poke bowls to go. We were a bit tired of Italian sandwiches and big Italian meals so decided to switch it up a bit and get poke bowls for lunch and eat them near the Vernazza harbor.
- We then proceeded to continue our hike from Vernazza to Monterosso. Great hike but not for the faint of heart if you’re not up for some stairs and inclines! Reached Monterosso and grabbed some gelato before jumping on the ferry to take us back to Manarola. Had some good views of the coastline and each of the towns that make up Cinque Terre!
- We stopped back at the apartment to change and then hit a good swimming spot near Manarola. The very refreshing, salty, and clear Mediterranean Sea strikes again as great for swimming!
- Trent then picked us up some pizza from the pizzeria that we grabbed dinner at the night before and breakfast that morning, yes very unoriginal but all good. We had pizza and white wine while we watched the sunset from our balcony and people watched until it was dark. Hit the hay early to get up for an early morning train to Nice.

What we ate:
- Airport breakfast: Steph really wanted McDonald’s but it was in the international terminal so had to settle with a Sicilian food - prosciutto sandwich and arancini (Steph was sad because they gave her the wrong type of arancini).
- McDonald’s at train station for lunch (no other explanation needed…)
- Marina di Corniglia: Aperol Spritzes and some nuts, olives, and pretzel snackies!
- Il Porticciolo Dinner: 2 side salads, Trent got a white fish plate and Steph got the Salsiciccia pizza (pesto, sausage, mozzarella, and tomato sauce) and split a bottle of Montelccino red wine. Pizza won this dinner!
- Il Porticciolo Takeout Breakfast: 2 cappuccinos, one ham sandwich for Trent, and a berry croissant and donut for Steph.
- Bar Il Gabbiano: two fruit smoothies as a hiking break
- Organic Poke Vernazza: poke bowls with salmon, tuna, avocado, and mango!
- Gelateria La Scogliera: strawberry, lemon, and blackberry gelato. Voted out least favorite gelato of the trip, but still very good!
- Il Porticciolo Takeout Dinner: Prosciutto and Burrata pizza, and Gorgonzola, walnut, truffle pizza. Local bottle of white wine.

Fun facts:
- Cinque Terre is a UNESCO protected site.
- Part of the blue trail (which goes through all 5 towns) was impacted by several landslides over 10 years ago. This was supposed to be fixed by 2023, but as of now you cannot complete the whole blue trail due to closures between Corniglia and Manarola, and Manarola and Riomaggiore and must take “detours” to hike through most of the towns.
- This may be our favorite Italian destination…Leer más