La Spezia

La Spezia is the port for visiting Florence and other parts of Tuscany. It is also very near the Cinque Terre, a place I've been interested in for a long time, and we decided the local ferry would be the best way to visit the area. There is a train that goes through long tunnels and stops at the villages. (We saw at least three while we were in Monterosso.) There is also a trail for hiking between them, which is very popular. We caught the 9:15 ferry and got good seats on the starboard side, so we could see the scenery. And it was spectacular. The first stop was Porto Venere, a town on the tip of a peninsula. 

Promenade at Porto Venere

Porto Venere with castle/fort above

After some rugged mountainous coastline, we came to the five famous villages. They are indeed picturesque. The first two stops were Riomaggiore and Manarola. These places didn’t have real docks, just a cemented walkway area that the ship pulled up toward. 

Scenery along the way

The dock!

The third village, Corniglia, does not have water access, so there is no stop, but we could see the village up above. Then came Vernazza, and last, Monterosso. This is the end of the line and we got off. After walking around the village (which had many stalls selling souvenirs), having some water and a protein bar on a bench in a park, we lined up to get back on the return ferry, which left one hour after ours had arrived. Again we sat on the side of the coast and enjoyed seeing all the wonderful scenery again. This time we had to get off at Porto Venere, as the next ferry back to La Spezia was an hour later. We enjoyed a nice walk along the seaside promenade. The last ferry back was much larger than the others and had wooden benches. We realized we were happy that the others all had cushions! It was only a half-hour ride, then a walk back to the port terminal and our shuttle bus. A wonderful day.

Monterosso beach right beside ferry port

Another gorgeous sunset on our way