Let’s get started!

1. Riomaggiore:

Pastel houses cascading

into a tiny harbor!

Riomaggiore is the Southern-most of the Cinque Terre, and personally I would recommend you to start your journey from here!

The whole village is built around a small and very cinematic port, and as you descend through it’s tiny alleys, everything becomes narrower and narrower and you can’t get lost: all streets going down will lead you to the port!

The place is VERY pictoresque and the pastel-colored houses, all with green blinds, are absolutely gorgeous!

If you come here in the early morning, before 9.00, you will find the place shrouded in silence and with zero crowds (ideal for photographers looking for the “perfect shot”) while after 10.00 crowds start to grow larger (in full summer even earlier!). 

We once visited here also in winter, and the town was deserted.

Instead, in April after Easter, most restaurants and bars opened their doors, and it was easy to find welcoming tables and smiling waiters to get an espresso, sip a drink and enjoy the view! (Here by the way, you can also read our complete guide to Italian Coffees!).

What we loved most of Riomaggiore?

It’s picture worthy!

Seen with the drone is even more magical (at the end of the article you’ll find a video shot by me of all the Cinque Terre).

What we did not like?

Being built on a very narrow bay, it’s mostly in shade – might be great in full summer, but in mid-season was still chilly to walk around. 

It can also feel cramped at times (many times we had to queue to pass through the narrow tunnels – nothing too big, but we would recommend to visit here early morning!)

Lots of slopes (not a problem for us, but might be hardly accessible with a wheelchair).

2. Manarola:

the “postcard view” of the Cinque Terre!

The first image you think of when you hear “Cinque Terre”, is probably the profile of Manarola.

Manarola is gorgeous, panoramic, magical and exaggerately colorful!

Did i mention before that the whole park of the Cinque Terre is UNESCO World Heritage Site? 😉

By walking only 10 minutes from the train station in North direction, there is a public park with benches where you can sit, eat and admire the panorama of Manarola before you! (and there’s also a bar seeling aperol-spritz and cold beer just in front too – it’s one way, so you cannot miss it!).

This village is not a lot about immersing in the alleys, but more to see it as a whole from afar!

Great for a pic-nic and for taking the best photos of your day!

What we loved most of Manarola?

Manarola has the most iconical photo spot of all five villages and it’s picture perfect both at golden and blue hour (faces directly west!).

It is very fast to visit, an hour stop is all it takes to enjoy its beauty (of course you can stay more!).

Overall it feels very intimate and romantic 🙂

What we did not like?

The walk toward the park is packed with people taking photos (but hey, we did the same and we cannot blame them…the panorama is just so memorable to not take a few!)

Furthermore, there is not much beach to lay by the sea (there are some rocks, but there’s really now much place).

3. Corniglia:

a quiet village on a hill,

suspended between sky and sea!

Corniglia is the surprise you don’t expect to find here.

When you stop with the train at the Corniglia station…well, there is no town! xD

Corniglia is in fact, a village on a hill, and to reach it from the seaside station there are two options: a shuttle or a walk through a quiet lenghty staircase.

As the shuttles seemed very small for all the people arriving with the train and we love walking, we took the stairs.

Getting up takes approx. 25 minutes, and the stairs while being a bit steep, they are very pictoresque as they climb up the hill like a snake (see the drone video at the end to know what I mean! 😉 ).

Once conquered the hill, you are at the entrance of Corniglia and my recommendation here is to give in to one of the many gelaterias that you’ll find on both sides of the street.

Prices are much cheaper compared to the other “Terre” and there was also a big selection of lactose-free ice-creams (which was great for our Isa that is intolerant!).

After getting an ice-cream, we walked up and up through the medieval alleys, until we reached a church with one of the craziest football fields we’ve ever seen (picture above!), right on top of a creek (I wonder how many balls got lost there eheh).

The view of the sea from Corniglia is breath-taking, and the quietness you can breath here is like no where else on the Cinque Terre (probably because to get here, you need to somehow “earn it” by hiking up 😉 ). Tiny bars populate the sides of the decorated cobblestone streets, and everything feels very peaceful here!  

What we loved most of Corniglia?

The walk (surprisingly was very “refreshing” to walk a bit faster than a zombie walk, although hot! xD), the peace and the stillness.

The fewer crowds surely help Corniglia to feel more authentic. The elevation then adds beauty to the panorama and the sea view is gorgeous. The football field on the terrace is fascinating and the small central square calls for a wine stop xD

Overall, the best for slow wandering!

What we did not like?

Actually we liked almost everything of Corniglia… perhaps it’s less “wow” at first compared to other lands, but it’s a place that grows on you as you walk through it.

Awful accessibility if you need to move with a stroller or wheelchair, yet worth visiting!

4. Vernazza:

a gorgeous bay

to enjoy the Italian Bellavita!

With Vernazza, we come back on the seaside, and here we find a small town built around a cute tiny harbour.

Vernazza is very small compared to other lands: there is a tiny beach, beautiful viewpoints of the church in the harbour, elegant restaurants by the sea, boats, souvenir shops… getting to all of this takes less than 5 minutes from the station!

Vernazza feels like that place you come to sit by: get a seat, order a refreshing drink, couple of aperitivos and pass the time doing nothing but enjoying the sun and the panorama (the key of Italian Bellavita! eheheh).

What we loved most of Vernazza?

The harbour is spectacular to photograph, also by drone! 

The restaurants have a good view on the harbour, but if you want to pic-nic, there is also plenty of place to sit by the dock, so you can save some money while enjoying the same view of the restaurants nearby.

It’s small, but charming and worth seeing! 

What we did not like?

Perhaps the place it’s even too small! You come, 15 minutes, you see it...and either you sit for eating/drinking, or you move to the next one! 

We decided to stop and enjoy a bit of time there, and was lovely 🙂

Getting back to the train station though… a little nightmare!

Many crowds, and the train station is the tiniest among the 5.

In rush hours, you need to wait even inside the tunnels as there’s almost no place outside!

5. Monterosso:

the place with a beach,

to get a plunge into crystal waters!

Monterosso is the largest of the five “terre” and here you can find few convenient parking for your car and there is also a camper area too (both absolute rarities in the Cinque Terre… personally I would recommend you NOT to take your own vehicle here…but anyway… xD).

The peculiarity of Monterosso is surely it’s large beach: it’s the only one of the Cinque Terre with space for everyone, and that’s a big plus during long summer days when the Mediterranean heats reaches even the coastside of Liguria!

Strolling from the train station to the heart of Monterosso is a nice panoramic walk of roughly 10 minutes. The center, is small, has some traditional supermarkets, tiny bars, home-made bars, bakeries and of course ice-cream shops (ever present around here!).

The highlight, is nevertheless the white beach and the blue sea, while the village, although surely nice, does not compete in beauty with the previous four (always in my humble opinion xD).

What we loved most of Monterosso?

Easy to access, right on the beach, and less claustrophobic than the other four villages. 

Perfect as the last stop of the trip and to sit by the sea and relax after all the walks and trains. Last but not least, while not our case (yet^^), this might also be the easiest place to visit with children 🙂

What we did not like?

It’s not that “we did not like it”, but as we are comparing it with the previous 4, the views here are way less dramatic….

It’s not a postcard like Manarola, not an eagle nest like Corniglia, not a secluded harbour like Vernazza nor a steep climb like Rio Maggiore…yet also Monterosso has it’s own charm and completes the adventure to the “Cinque Terre” with honour, it just feels a bit “too normal” after all the pictoresque places seen till yet!

Conclusion: Which is the most beautiful?

And here we are at the end of this article!

Time to draw the sums!

Then… I’ll keep you on the spines just a little bit longer.

Why? Because probably there’s not a single “most beautiful” one in objective terms…(although I said I’ll pick one so I will!)

But before, some honorable mentions!

My honest ranking by travel style:
Best first impression –> Manarola or Riomaggiore

Best overall village –-> Vernazza

Best for photos –> Manarola

Best for peace –> Corniglia

Best for beach –>Monterosso

Best base –> Monterosso (for more comfort and access)

Most underrated –> Corniglia, without question!

And as far as it concerns me, the most beautiful of the Cinque Terre is….

drum rolls….

drum drum drum…

…Corniglia! (with Manarola runner up!).

Why? Probably because you need to walk up, you’ve got more time to appreciate it as you get closer to it, and its streets and alleys felt so peaceful and serene, without huge flows of crowds.

Personally, I loved the view of Manarola, I loved all the other towns, but Corniglia won my heart 😉

And here you got it finally, my super humble opinion! xD 

As said before, if you’re looking for more practical info for planning your journey in the CInque Terre, be sure to check Mapsorted, it’s a platform that offers incredibly help in sorting out just the info that truly matter! 🙂 

Before going, as always, I’d love to ask you something:

• Have you ever been to the Cinque Terre before?
• Which place surprised you the most?
• Do you agree with me or do you have another opinion?

Let us know in the comments below! (we always enjoy chatting with fellow travelers and hearing different experiences!).

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a happy life!

See you in the next article 🙂

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