Cinque Terre

We went from home by car down to Como in Italy for a one night stay because travel distance was too much to do it in one go.

So, our travel truly started on the next day when we drove to Levanto. The road led us via Milano and Genova down to our first destination. The highway is built through an incredible landscape in the Liguria hills, passing Genova in the east.

The hotel – after having lots of trouble to find it because the agency provided wrong GPS data – is really great, providing a shuttle service to the train station that runs through the Cinque Terre. A short evening walk before dinner in Levanto showed that the town is great for a stay.

Next day, before sunrise, we took the train to Vernazza for a first view. Main goal for the day was to choose the evening location for taking some sunset shots. I already had Manarola in mind but wanted to see the other 2 locations first before finally deciding.

We went to three of the villages. First Vernazza which isn’t that nice as many people say. The next one was Manarola and after I saw that, my decision was nearly made. A wonderful view to the harbor and the small lined up houses – incredible. Last was Riomaggiore which is also great but allows not similar light to the village when the sun sets. Also, the position to choose isn’t that easy to reach as in Manarola. So, decision made for the evening.

We went to Manarola early evening hours and had a nice dinner before we placed our stuff at the same spot we used in the morning hours. The next 2.5 hours was enjoying the sunset and taking some shots and videos.

Second day in Cinque Terre we took the boat from Levanto to Porto Venere. The big advantage of doing such journey is to see all five villages from a different angle.

After we returned to Levanto we had a break and decided to go for Vernazza in the evening to take another set of shots. So, like the day before, early evening hours we went to Vernazza and had dinner in another restaurant. That one was really bad. An arrogant owner, bad service and even worse food. We paid without tip and moved towards the mole. However, Vernazza is really not nice, so “lucky” we were that some clouds started to cover the sun and we quickly decided to leave.