Cinque Terre is a string of five small towns scattered along a two mile stretch of coastline in Liguria, North-West Italy. These ancient erstwhile fishing villages are not as remote as they once were. Yes, it is still very hard to reach them by road (I wouldn’t even bother), however they are easily accessible by the very well served rail route, and they are also connected by beautiful and extensive hiking routes. This iconic Italian collection of cascading multi-coloured buildings and their surrounding mountainous countryside have been recognised by UNESCO and now form the Cinque Terre National Park.

This area is extremely popular with outdoorsy types who are looking to walk this national park from one end to the other. As much as I enjoy a challenge, considering we have an 8 year old and a 6 year old in tow, we decide the best plan of attack for us is to catch the train and explore each of them as much as their little feet allow. The best thing to do is to buy a Cinque Terre access pass from any of the local train stations that serve this rail route. We are starting a few stops away in Deiva Marina, so we must first buy a normal train ticket to get to the beginning of the national park in Levanto, then the access pass allows you to use all trains and buses within the national park as much as you like all day to hop between the villages. A family pass for 2 adults and 2 kids set us back 48 euros, but that includes a Wi-Fi code to use in many public areas, and free use of all public toilets.

We head first to the furthest town away from our starting point, Riomaggiore, with a view to working backwards towards our starting point. Apparently all five of the sister towns have a different feel to them, and have even developed their own personalities. Riomaggiore instantly has a small village-like feel, probably due to the fact that it’s very quiet and peaceful here. I was expecting it to be heaving with ramblers and tourists as we ascend away from the water and up towards the remains of the 15th century fort above the town, but it just isn’t. The walking route between here and Manarola is called the Via dell’Amore and is supposedly the flattest, widest and consequently easiest routes. I think this is the one we could have tackled with the kids in tow, but unfortunately it is shut until 2023 for maintenance. Ah well, back to the train!

A short four minute train ride brings us to the next town on the list, Manarola. This instantly has a different feel to it, there’s more of a buzz around the main streets which are filled with small boutiques and restaurants. This is perhaps one of the better known of the Cinque Terre due to its picturesque hillsides covered in colourful houses, and also because of the grapes grown high up on the slopes above the town which are used to produce the regions wine. As we’re not partaking in any hiking today we decide instead to head down the hill through the Main Street and down to the small restaurant lined piazza overlooking the miniature harbour. There is a slipway here complete with a motorised winch for the engines, and the residents store their boats everywhere: outside the shops and restaurants, on the streets, around the mini harbour and all down the steep slipway. It’s obviously still a very well used harbour despite the ever present crowds of visitors. We wandered up the cliff side path, hopeful of getting a table at the popular Nessun Dorma overlooking the harbour, but alas the queue was already spilling out down the hill. You have to download the app to get a place in the virtual queue here, and we were already hungry, so we instead returned to the main piazza and sat in one of the smaller and quieter trattorias for lunch.

After lunch we hopped back on the train and headed for village number three, Corniglia. This is the only one of these pretty little villages that is not built directly on the sea. It is in fact perched way up above it on a rocky outcrop. I hadn’t previously informed Kate that the only way to access this village from the train station is actually by tackling the slightly imposing staircase of 300ish steps. I was a bit worried that she would flat out refuse to be honest! Well actually it’s not exactly true that it’s the only way, there is also a small bus that runs up and down from the station to the village, but the queues make it seem easier to simply brave the stairs instead. Once at the top of the actually not too bad at all steps, you are confronted with a gloriously pretty village, with tiny alleyways leading you away from the square (which actually had cars moving through it). One alley eventually leads you out on to a viewing terrace with fantastic views taking in both directions up and down the coast of the Cinque Terre. These alleys are also packed with cosy and inviting eateries and boutiques. Unfortunately we had already eaten in Manarola, and I am now secretly (actually, outwardly vocally) wishing we had waited for this village instead! We opt instead for a quick pit stop in Alberto Gelateria for home made ice cream and slush. Many of the ingredients here are grown on the slopes surrounding us – the Basil in my lemon and basil slushie is from their own garden and the olive oil in the ice cream lends it the most velvety of textures.

The stairs seem less daunting on the way down, perhaps it has something to do with the seemingly authentic accordion player surrounded by embarrassingly gyratory ladies of a certain age with one too many Aperol spritzes under their belts. He didn’t seem to mind, maybe he was happy for the attention? Maybe he imagined himself as a French Tom Jones in a hail of excitedly removed undergarments? Or perhaps he was simply too polite to ask them to stop? 

After another brief train journey we find ourselves in my favourite of the five, Vernazza. This is apparently the most photographed of the group due to the concentration of colourful buildings spilling down the hillsides. The Main Street again leads you downwards, straight through the middle of this riot of colour, past the shops and bars until you reach the harbour at the bottom. This small man-made harbour is lined with people sat, just watching the world go by. But on the other side of the sea wall the sound of crashing water attracts the attention of the kids. This side is exposed to the sea, and every set of waves served up by the Mediterranean Sea brings the white water crashing up over the rocks. My children, probably like most others their age, never seem to be able to pass up an opportunity to get themselves wet. Cue 20 minutes of eagerly awaiting progressively bigger waves as they smash over the side of the concrete wall and rain down upon them amid tittering screams of excitement! There was nobody bravely standing at the waters edge when we arrived. When we left people were taking turns, including one well-turned out young couple in sockless loafers and white linen (a common sight in this area) who timed it completely wrong and ended up taking a very wet selfie.

The final stop for the train before we head home is the town of Monterosso Al Mare. This town is split between old town and new town linked by an underground pathway. Despite being possibly the least photogenic of all five, the main draw of Monterosso is the fact that it is the only one that can actually boast a proper beach. The kids have been real troopers today as we dragged them through the towns, so we give the old town a miss, and instead head straight for the beach. The view from the promenade stretches right down the coast from here and we can see every village along the shore back to our starting point of Riomaggiore. As the kids while away the last half an hour before we catch the train home by splashing in the crystal water and playing in the sand, I wandered down the beach to have a look at the impressive Statua Del Gigante. This 14 meter high concrete statue of Neptune was built in 1910 to decorate the Pastine Villa above. It has alas seen better days as it suffered at the hands of several bombing raids during the war and subsequent years of being ravaged by rough seas. But this beaten and armless giant adds a certain charming air of interest to this end of the beach.

The train ride home has one more surprise for us as we wind our way back along the coast towards Deiva Marina to find our campsite: a glorious Mediterranean sunset to bid us farewell on our final stop in Italy. Tomorrow we are off to France…