Cinque Terre, literally translates to 5 lands, is a UNESCO
world heritage.
What drew me to Cinque Terre was this breathtaking photo of
Manarola. Colourful houses at a cliff by the sea. How beautiful is that!

Cinque Terre consists of 5 towns. I visited all 5 towns with the Cinque Terre card. In Mar
2017, the 2 day Cinque Terre card cost 23 Eur and allowed unlimited travel on
trains and buses, Wifi access, use of public toilets, hiking on path 2 in
Cinque Terre for 2 days. Without the card, each train ride between the towns in
Cinque Terre cost 4 Eur. The frequency of the train ride is approximately
once every hour. The train schedule is available online, however, there is a variation
of ~10min of the actual timing from the online schedule.
Is the Cinque Terre card worth the money?
Yes, if you intend to visit all 5 towns. Otherwise, you
could get the individual train tickets. Wifi access provided by the Cinque Terre card was limited, public toilets
were closed and some of the trails on path 2 were closed.

Here is my take on the 5 towns.
Riomaggiore
Corniglia
Vernazza
Most elderly friendly. Mostly flat ground and town center
can be easily reached from the train station.
Monterosso
Largest and most children friendly. Have a beach and
playground.
I stay at B&B Baranin at Manarola for 2 nights. It is
located on a cliff. I remembered panting while rolling my luggage up the slope
and carrying them up the stairs. In retrospect, perhaps, I would stay in the
town center of Manarola, instead of up on a cliff. Breakfast offered by B&B
Baranin was good though; the freshly-made croissants made my day.
I hiked around Manarola but not from one town to the next.
Good walking shoes are strongly recommended.
I had dinner at Trattoria
Dal Billy, which was a short walk away from B&B Baranin. Food was yummy
and reasonable priced. In fact, it was so good that I had dinner there for 2
consecutive days! You should also try Sciacchetra, a sweet dessert wine which will be served after meal.
Now, you must be thinking, if one has the time to visit only one town in Cinque Terre, what would it be?
If you have no problems climbing stairs and slopes, I would
strongly recommend Manarola. I would recommend staying there for at least 1 one
day, to catch the day and the sunset view and have dinner at Billy.
If you have difficulty with stairs and slopes, I would
suggest Vernazza as the terrain is the most gentle. It is also beautiful.
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