Cinque Terre 1.

Thursday, 21st May.

We decided to start our visit to the five towns at Corniglia, the middle town, and work our way back to Levanto so bought all day train tickets, boarded the train and shortly after arrived at Corniglia station.  Rather than climb up the 365 steps to the town, we opted to take a bus ride up the narrow road and a few minutes later we were there...a lovely old town which we enjoyed exploring, ending our visit with coffee and croissants in the sunshine before catching the bus back to the station for the brief journey to Vernazza.  Vernazza has a maze of tiny streets that lead down to the main street, has a lovely little harbour, wonderful views from Castello Doria...we loved it!   Our next stop today was Monterosso which boasts a large beach and plenty of cafes and restaurants, is easy to walk around and was our last visit today before returning to Levanto to pack up and leave for the drive over the mountains to La Spezia.
It was an easy and relaxing day...it takes just a few minutes for the train to travel between the towns which are not large, so a couple of hours or so in each is sufficient to have a good look around, the cafe prices are reasonable, each town is different from the others and each has its own charm.