Vernazza, Italy - 4th town in the Cinque Terre, Italy's Riviera

After seeing the highlights of Venice, and understanding how to survive on the contents of only 1 suitcase, we headed to he West Coast of Italy, the Riviera of the Cinque Terre. Cinque in Italian is '5', thus there are 5 towns in very close proximity in the National Park - all 5 within 1 days hiking distance from start to finish. Riomaggiore is the southern most town, then Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza & Monterosso al Mare.

These towns have largely escaped the modernization of the rest of the country due to their locations which hug the mountains and make travel in/out by expressway non-existant. Trains and busses provide the most efficient transportation. But the lack of modernization is what gives them their charm and makes them a desirable place to rest & relax. Most of the towns haven't seen any siginificant tourist development and any new building is strictly monitored so as not to destroy the culture and history of each town.

We arrived in Vernazza from Venice on a Sunday night and stayed 2 days. After seeing the other towns during our hike on day 1, we were glad to have chosen such a gem of a town. We hope you enjoy the slideshow.

(just hold your mouse over the photo to stop the slide-show & see the caption)