European Honeymoon [7 of 9]: Cinque Terre, Italy (Part 2)

Photography by Miguel Marino

Cinque Terre, Italy was the 7th city in our 9-city European honeymoon and one of my favorite places!  Part 1 showed the charming town of Riomaggiore, where we stayed within Cinque Terre. Part 2 is my tips for the Cinque Terre hike:

1. To complete the hike in one day, take the train to Monterosso and hike back to Riomaggiore.
2. Purchase a ticket for the Blue Trail hike at the same time as the train ticket.
3. Sneakers are just fine for the hike - I wore Nike Free sneakers.

Monterosso is the most resort town and the largest of the five. We walked along the beach with gelato, then went wine tasting and snacked on burrata and prosciutto. From Monterosso, we hiked to Vernazza (90 mins). Stop for anchovies and limoncello, and take a stroll by the water to look back on the town. The hike from Vernazza to Corniglia (90 mins) is stunning! Corniglia is a darling town. We made sure to have Cinque Terre's famous pesto on lasagna with a glass of dry white wine. The hike from Corniglia to Manarola (45 mins) is picturesque next to lush vineyards. Walk up to the looking point by the graveyards in Manarola to get that quintessential view from the first photo of this post. Have a dinner of fresh seafood stew and trofie, a pasta made of chestnut flour. The last hike from Manarola to Riomaggiore (20 mins) is short and sweet. Since we stayed in Riomaggiore, we ended our hike and evening with nightcaps.

Destinations before: Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Milan, Athens, Santorini (Part 1 and Part 2), and Cinque Terre (Part 1). Next: Amsterdam!