Al Convento

... stay in Vernazza. During...

by VzionQuest

... stay in Vernazza. During August, Italians also takes their holiday so you have to be creative in getting accomodation. At the very last resort, go to Monterosso. You should be able to find accomodation there. Absoulutely spend a meal at the square in front of the Harbor in Vernazza. Same goes for the restaurant in fron tof the harbor in Manarola...or is it Maranola, I can't keep it straight. Definitely hiking through the five towns and stopping for a snack or a meal in Riomagiore, Manarola and Vernazza. Same goes for picking up picnic items in Manarola and hiking to a secluded beach right off Corniglia.

Riomaggiore

by matcrazy1

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Cinque means 5 and Terre means lands. The 5 towns in order are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso.

Riomaggiore is Village no. 1, it also has a little harbor which is beautifully lit up at night. Some people prefer to stay here.
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The gulf and the mountains

by matcrazy1

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The city is located at the center of the La Spezia Gulf called often "Golfo dei poeti" = Poets' Gulf.

Driving to Lerici (south) you can stop for the moment to admire a view to the gulf and the Appeninen Mountains in the background or just stay for longer to enjoy the city beach.
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The Essence of Italy

by wilocrek

"Welcome to Italy!"

I have always dreamed of living in Italy, but the challenge for me was where to live. I always knew I didn't want to live in a touristy city like Rome or Florence, but then again I didn't want to be to far from the action. I always dreamed of coming across a mid sized Italian city that was close to the major cities but away from the tourism. La Spezia proved to be just that. Located just minutes from Cinque Terre and only a few hours by train to Florence, the location of the city is perfect. The layout of the city is very Italian, with its old buildings literally on top of each other and the pedestrian only streets and plaza's. But it was the towering greens hills that surround the city and the smell of the ocean that sold me on its charm. I found that this was a wonderful place to stay during my visit to Cinque Terre and the best part was that I now have a city to match my dreams!

utttz's portovenere and, if I find some pic, leric

by utttz

La spezia is mainly a militar harbour in a fantastic gulf called "golfo dei poeti": poets gulf.. why? just because a bunch of english poets were used to spend a lot of time in this gulf... actually one died while he was trying to cross the gulf from portovenere to lerici or viceversa.. Byron, shelley...it's on you to discover wich of the two... it should be easy as the other one died in greece. the only pics I have are winter pics... shot during a new year cruise some years ago... I promise next time I'll bring my camera!
so, this is portovenere