Italy
Cinque Terre
Five villages clamped to sea cliffs, connected by footpaths through terraced vineyards above surf.
The train bursts from a tunnel and there it is: Riomaggiore stacked like coloured blocks against the cliff, the Ligurian Sea foaming white at its base. The air tastes of basil and salt. Fishing boats knock about in coves barely wider than a sitting room.
Cinque Terre is a chain of five fishing villages on the Ligurian coast, inscribed by UNESCO in 1997 for a cultural landscape of dry-stone terracing cut into near-vertical slopes. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are threaded together by the Sentiero Azzurro coastal path and a rail line that dives between headlands. Generations of farmers walled these cliffs by hand to grow grapes and olives, and the terraces still yield Sciacchetrà, a rare sweet wine pressed from grapes dried in the sea air. The Via dell'Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola is open again after long rockfall repairs, admitting a limited number of booked walkers at a time.
Couple
Walk one open stretch of coast path at golden hour, then let the train carry you back to a harbour table as the village lights come on.
Friends
Village-hop by rail, argue over the best anchovy plate, and split a bottle of the terrace wine once the last trains have gone.
- All five villages connect by local train, so a car never has to touch the coast road.
- The reopened Via dell'Amore cliff path admits a limited number of walkers by reservation.
- Sciacchetrà sweet wine is pressed from grapes dried on the terraces above the villages.
- UNESCO listed the whole terraced coast in 1997 as a living cultural landscape, not a museum.
Trofie al pesto is the local benchmark: Genovese basil, pine nuts and olive oil pounded with two cheeses.
Stuffed anchovies, filled with garlic, marjoram and cheese, taste best steps from the boat that landed them.
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