Cinque Terre

After another lovely breakfast, this time al fresco at Villa Rosmarino, we set off towards Tuscany. On the way we planned to stop to visit the Cinque Terre. After an hour's drive we turned off the motorway and spent about 30 minutes driving down, then up and down again song some very very windy roads before ending up at Monterosso, the first of the 5 villages.

We found a car park and then wandered along the sea front. It really was very bustling and not for the first time we were glad that we were visiting in October and not July!

After a pit stop for a small beer and a comfort break, we eventually decided that we would take a ferry along the coast to one of the other villages, in this case Manarola. We travelled along the coast, stopping at Vernazza, and passing Corniglia before arriving at the drop off point.

The weather had definitely taken a turn for the better from yesterday with warm sun and calm conditions. On arriving at Manarola, we explored the village. Again, the village was very busy with tourists exploring the gift shops and having an Italian version of fish and chips. We didn't have much time, but I had a gelato while Ed had a beer before we headed for the railway station to catch the train back to Monterosso. The train travels right along the coast although mostly in tunnels.

On getting back to Monterosso we located the car and then started on the journey of about 170 miles to our next stop near San Gimignano in Tuscany, arriving just as the sun was setting.Read more