I’m up early in my favourite village on the Italian Riviera, as the morning sun touches the tip of Vernazza’s bell tower and greets a peaceful world. The air is damp, cool, and refreshing as I wander downhill, passing underneath the train tracks. I enjoy the fact that the town is essentially traffic-free, and realize that many of my favorite Italian towns — like Venice, Siena, Tuscany’s Volterra, and Lake Como’s Varenna — are all this way.
Until the recent advent of tourism, the towns were poor and remote. Today, tourism stokes their economies and each is well connected by hourly trains. But traditions are resilient, there’s not a chain store anywhere, and each of the five villages comes with a distinct dialect and its own proud heritage.
The next town up, tiny Manarola, is a picturesque tumble of buildings bunny-hopping down its ravine to a wild little harbour. The trail ringing the town’s cemetery, on the peninsula north of the main harbour, affords some of the most strikingly beautiful town views anywhere in the region. Find a cliffside café and enjoy tasty treats born right here: pesto on your focaccia, washed down by a glass of crisp local wine that glistens with the reflection of the Mediterranean.
And Monterosso al Mare, the Cinque Terre’s only resort town, comes with a few cars, lots of hotels, rentable beach umbrellas, crowds, and a thriving late-night scene. Its historic centre cradles Old World charm within crooked lanes and hole-in-the-wall shops. Strolling the waterfront promenade, you can pick out each of the other Cinque Terre towns decorating the coast. After dark, they sparkle.