Joe and I have been longing to see the Cinque Terre, or 5 villages, on the western coast of Italy for 20 years. It was on my bucket when I traveled through Italy while studying abroad in law school back in 2002 but with only a week, I prioritized Rome, Florence and Venice. Also, I wanted to see it with Joe. Awwww. We’ve watched the PBS Rick Steves segment on the Cinque Terre multiple times and knew that we wanted to make it happen on this trip. We also knew that Beebs and Scott wanted to see it too, so it was a go! After multiple days of hanging out at the pool and relaxing, we were ready for a day trip to the coast.

We made the 1 1/2 hour drive to La Spezia to meet Federico our English speaking guide who would take us through the mountain by train and along the sea by boat from village to village to see and experience the beauty, culture, food and most extraordinary views of the Ligurian Sea. I’ve got to say, riding on a train through a mountain for ten minutes and then exiting to see yourself on a cliff overlooking the bluest of blue seas was pretty darn magical (see photo below)!

We climbed over 30 flights of stairs, walked over 8 miles, and learned about how this coastal region was an agricultural powerhouse despite being located on steep cliffs, and produced some of the country’s best olive oil and wine. Cliffs were leveled off to create flat sections of workable land, held up by rock walls, stacked upon each other to the sky. You can see these marvels in several of the photos below. Locals climbed dizzying distances and heights with large baskets on top of their heads, some weighing as much as 45 kilos! The agricultural focus of the region shifted about 100 years ago as locals began joining the Italian Navy and moving away to the cities to work in other industries that as Federico said, weren’t as physically demanding.

The villages still have remnants of the fortified walls that surrounded each as they fought off pirates, primarily from Turkey. We learned about how paths were carved out of the cliffs to enable villagers to notify the others villages if pirate ships were spotted in the sea and an attack imminent.

Despite the region becoming much more crowded with tourists, it still feels small and quaint. It was a lot of walking down narrow cobble stone pathways and staircases, but we took it slow and managed to see four of the five villages. The highlight of the day for me was sitting at our lunch spot atop a small cliff side table in Vernazza (see photo below with blue and white umbrella) enjoying the local delicacy, pesto, and some fresh seafood along with our vino bianco! The most exquisite view of the sea and of locals jumping off the cliffs to get relief from the heat. What an awesome experience!

The Cinque Terre exceeded my expectations and the beauty of it all was beyond my wildest dreams. . . We were all absolutely exhausted but it was worth it as every day in Italy has to end with gelato right?