Cinque Terre is so beautiful that I had to go twice.
The first time, I stayed in La Spezia. On my first trip to Cinque Terre I used La Spezia as my home base for exploration. I stayed two nights, cramming a fair amount of exploration into that time. The first night I wandered around La Spezia and relaxed in my room. The next day, I used the train to visit four of the five towns, staying in each one for about an hour (except Monterosso, where I sent for a bit of a hike). The towns I visited that day were Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I skipped Corniglia on that visit due to time constraints and the fact that I was really tired. I needed to take a nap before going on a foodie tour in the evening. I love food tours of places, since they are a great way to learn about the local specialties and find inspiration for my own cooking.
The second time I went to Cinque Terre I stayed in Corniglia for two nights. Of course, this was after I got up crazy early and took the train to La Spezia, where I went on a full day boat ride that ended in Monterosso. That boat ride was amazing. The sea was much calmer than I had expected, which meant that I didn’t get even a little seasick. Yay for not getting seasick!
After getting off the boat in Monterosso, I took the train to Corniglia, where I stayed for the next two nights. Luckily, I looked at the weather forecast before going, because it meant that I had schoolwork to keep myself occupied while it rained. I didn’t mind staying in, though, because I just set up shop on the couch and worked on my big research paper while looking out over the hills of Corniglia to the sea.
