Our first summer vacation while living abroad

Buon Ferragosto! August 15th is an Italian holiday called ferragosto. It’s a time Italians take a break from work and travel. Shops close during this time, usually for a few weeks.

Cinque Terre

For our first summer vacation, we decided to visit Cinque Terre. The Italian Riviera did not disappoint! It is translated five lands and it is a national park, a UNESCO world heritage site. Monteroso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are the five villages that make up this beautiful coast line. We stayed in an airbnb in Riomaggiore and took the train that connects them to visit the other 4. We also took a boat tour that took us to each.

Lodging

The airbnb we stayed at had a great balcony with a view. https://www.airbnb.it/rooms/20322569?source_impression_id=p3_1589038983_MFmJq9xpRPDPukeV&guests=1&adults=1

Pick one of the 5 villages and have that be your base camp. Do your homework of which one best suits your needs and interests because you’ll be seeing more of that one than the others. The train is pretty easy to get you to the others. Each one is small and quaint with its own restaurants, tiny alley streets. Beautiful coast line with balconies overlooking the view.

Experiences

Pesto is the famous sauce from the Liguria region, where Cinque Terre is located. I recommend taking a pesto making class https://www.airbnb.it/experiences/209245 to learn about this delicious sauce. We took a small, intimate class with just two other couples in a restaurant. Luca, our teacher, made this experience unforgettable. This chef makes everything home made and was so friendly. The class was interactive even our girls had fun participating. After we made our pesto, Luca put it over home made pasta. I’ve never made pesto before so I was shocked at how you can taste the freshness of the ingredients.

Another way to see all 5 villages is to take a boat tour. This is the one we used and it was spectacular. https://www.airbnb.it/experiences/547372 It leaves from Riomaggiore and you will see them from the sea. You will stop at Vernazza where you can walk around the town. We had the best homemade focaccia with pesto. You will see this everywhere! There is nothing like warm focaccia with fresh pesto made with basil that grows on the hillside. You will also stop at Canetto for a dip in the sea, only accessible by boat. It was definitely the highlight of our trip and my girls’ favorite for sure!

Wine tasting in Nessun Dorma, https://www.nessundormacinqueterre.com/ located in Manarola did not disappoint. My husband and I both had a flight of 3 wines to enjoy along with a nice spread to complete the aperitivo. The view is breath taking and the vibe is so fun. Recommend this place for sure! Just be aware that it is a tourist spot so it will be busy, a line of people waiting to be seated and priced accordingly.

Beaches

Monteroso has a beach where you can rent umbrellas and hang out for a while, but other than that there really aren’t beaches. They are rocky, and not the safest. That didn’t stop us from jumping in before heading back to our airbnb in Riomaggiore. People were laying out on the rocks getting sun and jumping in to snorkle close to the shore as well.

Hiking

Before going on our trip, I read about the famous hike from town to town. It takes about 5 hours to get from one end to the other. If you’re lucky, the entire trail will be open for you to hike. When we were there, parts of the trail were closed because it wasn’t safe. We were only able to go from Riomaggiore to Manarola. The views from the trail are amazing and definitely photo worthy. If you’re able to do the entire 5 hour hike, I recommend starting in Riomaggiore and end in Monteroso where you can take a dip in the ocean if it’s a warm summer day.

Enjoy your trip!

Are you looking forward to your next trip to Italy? Start packing and head over to Cinque Terre. If you’re planning on going during the summer months, you might want to reconsider. This is the time when it’s most crowded. Spring and fall may be a better time to travel. We went in August and it was full of tourists so it was hard to get a table at the best restaurants there. See where you want to eat and which experiences you want to do and book them in advance so when you get there all you have to do is enjoy your trip.

You can watch the girls’ youtube video of our Cinque Terre trip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIsLy-PJjWE

If you make it to Cinque Terre, let us know how your experience was in the comments. Happy Travels!