A Weekend Trip to Cinque Terre

November 22, 2023- November 25, 2023

If you can't be home for Thanksgiving you have to bring home to you. This year was not only my first time being away from home on Thanksgiving, but it was also my first time in Italy during this time and I was lucky enough for my family to be able to come visit me! I was also lucky enough to be able to bring them to one of my favorite places in Italy, Cinque Terre. My brother and I made a pact that we would hike all the the trails of Cinque Terre this Thanksgiving and we stuck to it.

Our first day in Cinque Terre was Thanksgiving day, and we spent the entire day hiking from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare. In my opinion, this was the easiest hike we did. The views were incredible, the weather was fantastic, and the excitement was palpable. I love Monterosso al Mare for it's night life because it's illuminated storefronts and restaurants on the coast of the sea is simply gorgeous. However, do be aware that many places have very limited hours during times of low tourist season, but we found our way around just fine. My favorite thing we did in Monterosso was have a snack break while sitting on a rock jutting out into the center of the sea. It was a lovely memory and all of us went around and said what we were thankful for this year. There were so many things.

Our second day in Cinque Terre consisted of hiking, hiking, swimming... and then more hiking. We woke up early to begin hiking from Vernazza to Corniglia. Unfortunately, this trail was closed and we could only hike half of the trail, but nonetheless, what we saw of the trail was handsdown gorgeous. Corniglia is the center village of the Cinque Terre and every time I've been, it's been the village of strolling in and out of it's winding streets. We then began to hike from Corniglia to Manarola, and this was my absolute favorite one. It was very intense at the start due to it's very steep inclines but once arriving at the top I didn't want to walk back down. This trail has you hiking though wooded areas, around big boulders, through wine vineyards, and alongside the mountains edge that extends over the sea far below. Upon arriving to Manarola, we spontaneously decided to jump into the water despite it being the end of November. After a long time of shivering we eventually became warm enough to begin the last and final hike of the day and trails from Manarola to Riomaggiore. This, in my opinion, was the most difficult. There were moments of the trails that could be more closely considered as rock climbing rather than hiking. Nonetheless, it was an amazing experiences and Riomaggiore's landscape is beautiful at night. We all took the train back to Vernazza since we were so tired and the trains between the five villages are very efficient by allowing you to get to each on within 3 minutes.

Our final day in Cinque Terre was very simple and standard for a morning in Italy. We ate some croissants and focaccia bread on a park bench outside the train station and took in the beauty of Cinque Terre and thought about how lucky we were to be able to spend Thanksgiving in a place such as this with so many people wev love.

Cinque Terre remains one of my favorite places in Italy because all of the villages have so many unique characteristics. From my time spent here I would say that Monterosso has the best nightlife, Vernazza is the best place to stay, Corniglia has the best downtown area, Manarola has the best swimming, and Riomaggiore has the best views. All of these villages have their own factors that make them so amazing and I look forward to bing able to show more people my favorite place in Italy.

Check out my YouTube video to see more about my trip to Cinque Terre!