We were there in March of this year, and we learned some things that no other travel sites had really educated or warned us about beforehand (and one of my favorite parts about writing/documenting our travels is that I get to share what I learn with all of you--because I love reading what other people have learned and want to share with me. It makes traveling so much more fulfilling)
Oh, and if you really just want to see pretty pictures of Italy, this post is also for you!
We arrived late night in La Spezia. It was a freezing midnight when we went out from the La Spezia station, and we just searching the hotel in that night, without any preparation, since we changed our itinerary in last minute.
We planned to go to La Spezia in the midnight after strolling around Florence or Firenze (in italian phrase). But we didn't make it happened since it was so cold and we don't think that we had enough time to strolling around Florence (only 3 hour left) so we just bought the train ticket to La Spezia Centrale, connecting in Pisa Centrale.
Finally after knocked down several hotels and found out that there is no room available, we were stranded in a hotel that walking distance to the train station and in the heart of La Spezia.
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| La Spezia. View from the street nearby hotel |
When you visit Cinque Terre, you most likely will (and should) stay in La Spezia. There is a short train ride from there to visit the 5 villages of Cinque Terre. You can buy a day pass so you can travel back and forth from the different villages as much as you like.
Also, you can buy the hiking pass and hike along the coast to all the different cities (we were not able to hike due to the time of year we went, but more on that later)
Sadly, that beautiful weather did not keep up for the next day we were there.
It wasn't overly cold, but the next day did get windy, cloudy and we had a bit of rain. As you can see below though, it did not stop Cinque Terre from being charming & beautiful!
Here are five small Cinque Terre villages.
The villages are: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
Our favorites were Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Vernazza.
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| It is more fit to summer weather, but hell yeah we do having fun with our coat and long john as well! hahaha
We obviously were traveling Italy in the off-season. March is not a high tourist time and it's not the most ideal weather for coastal locations. However, the colder temperatures weren't really a problem at all during our trip...until Cinque Terre.
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| Riomaggiore. First stop at Cinque Terre |
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| Rio Maggiore, the first town from La Spezia I'm going to be honest with you, mainly because nobody told me before we went out there. I did tons of research and never saw anyone say anything about this, but I do not recommend spending the time and money to visit Cinque Terre in the early spring or winter. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful but let me explain why I wouldn't do it again... |
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| Vernazza |
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| Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen. |
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| Monterosso |
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| Monterosso Al Mare |
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| Manarola |
First off, it is definitely a spring/summer destination. All the villages felt a bit like ghost-towns, with most of the shops closed, repair/construction work going on, and the weather causing other problems.
The weather also caused us some other disappointments. Because it had been extremely rainy, they had some landslide warnings and had closed off the hiking trails. Taking the train probably worked out for the best, but we were really disappointed that we didn't even have the option to hike the coast, because it was actually decent weather the day we were there and we would have loved to explore a bit more.
Despite the empty villages and weather-related issues, we still really enjoyed ourselves. I mean let's be real, it is still stunning!
Overall, I agree that Cinque Terre is extremely "touristy". I don't mean that in a bad way, but it definitely caters more toward the touristy season. I can see why people would love it when it's hot and the villages are alive with music, food, and sun, but I have to be honest, unless you're going when you have guaranteed good weather or when it's high-tourist season. I would focus your time, money and efforts on locations that will better serve the conditions.
I look back on these pictures and I'm completely amazed that such a beautiful place exists and that I've been so blessed to have seen it with my own eyes.
It's pretty magical--even when it is deserted ;)
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1 comments:
Voyager avec la famille est toujours aventureux. Notre blog est rempli d'expériences aventureuses de ce type. Si vous aimez lire un blog de voyage, vous pouvez visiter notre site Web. tour du monde en famille
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