Cinque Terre Day Trip + DISCOUNT CODE

Manarola

As an aspiring tour leader, I get to travel a lot and I’ve done the Cinque Terre day trip at least 20 times.

Cinque Terre means "five lands": the area is composed by Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. There five villages are strung along cliffs facing the Mediterrenian Sea.

The departure from Milan is 7 am and during the journey we cross Lombardia and Emilia Romagna, with also a little bit of Tuscany.  After passing La Spezia, the first stop is Manarola, the most picturesque of the five lands. Here there are about 45 minutes of free time to explore the tiny streets, have a gelato and enjoy the sun on the rocky beach.

The name "Manarola" is probably a dialectical evolution of the Latin, "magna rota". In the Manarolese dialect this was changed to "magna roea" which means "large wheel", in reference to the mill wheel in the town.

Manarola

  

Right before lunch time you catch the train (12 minutes) to Monterosso al mare, the biggest of the five villages. The town is divided into two distinct parts: the old town and the new town. The two areas are divided by a single tunnel that caters to pedestrians and the very few cars in the town.

The beach at Monterosso runs along most of the coast line and is well used by tourists and locals. The beach is the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre. Monterosso is a small town overrun by tourists in the summer months.

In Monterosso, near to the beach of Fegina you can find the statue of the Giant / Neptune built by the Italian sculptor Arrigo Minerbi (the favorite artist of Gabriele D’Annunzio) and the architect Francesco Levacher.

In past, not too far away, the impressive sculpture, with their 14 meters high,  stood on the promontory as decoration of the luxurious Villa Pastine (built in the early ‘900). In addition to the trident, Neptune was holding a gigantic shell on his head, that was nothing more than the beautiful house terrace.

This village maintains its maritime tradition and it still has signs of the past sea battles: the medieval tower that now is the bell tower of San Giovanni Church, the castle with its three round towers, and the Aurora tower, the only one survived of thirteen towers that protected the village. You can spend your time in the old town centre visiting  the church of San Giovanni Battista, or you can stay in the modern Fegina with its beach . 

Monterosso al Mare

From Monterosso we will start the final leg of your journey, a 90 minutes boat cruise: the perfect way to admire the stunning views of the Cinque Terre and the delightful village of Portovenere from the sea. When we reach La Spezia, we catch again the bus to go back to Milan.   

Pasta al pesto

• Food
  The typical dishes of the Cinque Terre are very essential and simple. Cinque Terre main course is seafood: breams, anchovy, squids, anchovies, squid, sea bass, octopus and cuttlefish that you can it grilled, fried or roasted. They’re always delicious.
  A must is also Pesto Genovese.
  My personal suggestion is to drink a glass of local white wine during your meals, like the Sciachetrà, (it’s a wine “passito”, strong sweet wine made with raisins)

Sea food 

Local wine store

Tuna fish

This is the program of the tour organized by ZaniViaggi . You can book this tour here, make sure you use the discont code INNATRAVEL for a 5% discount!

I will be on this tour on July 2nd 2018, follow me on Instagram for more pictures and information. Feel free to dm me for any question :)