Day 9

TODAY WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!! My friends and I traveled to the 5 villages of Cinque Terre. Let me just say it was the most beautiful view I have ever seen and I WILL BE BACK TO VISIT THEM!

We took a train to La Spezia which was about 3 hours away and from there we bought a day pass to ride the train. Each village was no longer than 10 minutes apart from one another which made it a lot easier to hit them all in one day.

Manarola, Cinque Terre

Riomaggiore was the first village and it was one that I would probably want to go back to and stay a few days! There were many places to swim! I was so mad at myself that I didn't wear my swim suit! We laid out for a little bit on the rocks! It got really hot really fast though so we decided to move onto the next village since we only had 5 hours to see them all!

Note to self: always pack a swim suit i guess!!!

Liguria was next. There was not as much to see here. I would say we were here for the least amount of time. It had a cute trail to walk along and see the ocean and view, but that was about it.

Next was Manarola. This village was by far the best view of all of them. It was amazing to see all of the houses and colors lined up on the shore, stacked up and up! It seemed like it was the biggest of them all too which means there would probably be more to do there, so I would want to come back and visit this village too!

After Manarola, we hit Corniglia. This village was a decent size as well with a pretty view. Once we got off the train we had to take a 5 minute bus ride up a hill, which our day pass got us on for free. There were many beautiful flowers and homes but not a way to access the beach, so we were not here long either. We decided to walk back down the hill rather than take the bus and lets just day the next day my calves were pretty sore and I think I know why.

Vernazza was next! At this point the sun was slowly starting to set and there was a pretty big gap when the next train came so we had some dinner! Pizza and gelato by the ocean. Can't complain. We walked around the shops a bit but mainly enjoyed the view, ocean smell, and sound of the waves. Very peaceful.

Last stop and top of Cinque Terre was Levanto. It was getting dark so it was not as enjoyable but we still got to see a pretty view of the town. If we had more time, we probably would've tried to make our way toward a beach. But we got to the a pretty sunset. Our legs were fairly tired and we needed to catch a specific train in order to get back in time for our train home to Florence. We took a late train home plus a bus which got us back to the hotel around 2am which made for s very tired Hannah.

If I ever come back to Italy or around the area, Cinque Terre will for sure be on my list to visit again and spend a few days doing so in order to enjoy it more!

Check out the slide show for GORGEOUS pictures!

p.s. Thanks Rachel for recommending it! :) it was a huge success!