Monterosso, Cinque Terre, Italy, is on the north end of the chain is largest of the five hamlets and makes a good home base because it has 20 hotels, the only sandy beach, excellent restaurants, and the start of the hiking trail. It is also the only one in which long-distance trains stop, so it is easy to reach by rail service from throughout Europe.
You arrive by train at Monterosso in the newer section built in the 1970s, then walk through a short tunnel into the Old Town. The train goes right by the beaches so it’s really accessible and yet you can’t drive here very easily. The road don’t connect directly from one village to the next. So they have been protected and sheltered, and they are just as quaint and charming as could be -- for pedestrians only when you get into the heart of town.
Monterosso has a handful of historic sites, including a Cappucine convent and church, a medieval tower, castle ruins, and WWII bunker, but you are here primarily here to wander the little lanes for a few hours, admire the cluster of picturesque buildings, eat well, and use the town as a springboard for visiting the region.
Of course, for the shoppers, there’s always that chance to find the special souvenir or elusive outfit in little, out-of-the-way boutiques that you would never find at home or on the main shopping circuits, so there’s something for everybody here in the Cinque Terre.
The next destination down the coast is Vernazza, which we reach in 5 minutes by train. Vernazza may be the most beautiful of all, set perfectly in a tiny valley on the edge of the sea, with colorful homes built one on top of the next and framed by a couple of churches and towers. It’s a little bigger than Corniglia and Manarola, and yet it is still very, very small – so small that you could walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes, but you’ll want to slow down and get into the local pace. There’s no rush here. Locals are just hanging out. They are enjoying life as much as the visitors do. The buildings have been standing for many centuries and they’re not going anywhere, so take your time, explore the little side alleys, and yes, there are going to be staircases. After all, these are hill-towns, so there are hardly any flat, level surfaces here, but it’s easy enough.
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