Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre comprise the five small coastal villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We stayed at Vernazza, that has antique homes cling to impossible cliffs, a lovely small harbor nestles under the shadows of an ancient castle and a seaside church. We hiked up to see great views than had dinner of pesto pizza, which is a must since Pesto "sauce" was invented in the Cinque Terre.  

Cinque Terre boasts some of the best coastline hiking trails in the world. Unfortunately, half of the four lower trails linking the five villages controlled/fee by the National Park service were closed due to landslides. However, there are many uncontrolled/free high trails open to public. We tried half of a longer/steeper high trail last night, and then walked 2 hours in the early morning on a lower trail From Vernazza to Corniglia before the control point operated. The ocean views winding through olive orchards and vineyards were fantastic in a cool sunny day! Most people hike from Corniglia to Vernazza after noon time not only start with a series of long cascading switchbacks, but also under burning sun. The northern-most town, Monterosso, is very beachy-resorty. Manarola is my favorite which is pretty and filled with boats. I was glad that we went against the traffic flows when hopping the villages, and jumped on the train back to Florence right before the heavy rain.