At this point I’ve spent over 25 days in the Cinque Terre over multiple summers. In this post I’m going to break it down so that if you only have 3 days you can get the MOST wonderful experience possible out of your Cinque Terre Itinerary.
If you have more time you can check out some of my other posts on the Cinque Terre and add to the experience.
You can find all my Cinque Terre posts here —–> Cinque Terre, Italy Posts
Day 1: Check in, pesto class, beach, dinner
Check in: Where to stay (one of the most important parts of your Cinque Terre Itinerary
On the first day of this Cinque Terre Itinerary you will arrive in Monterosso and check into your hotel. I am going to provide 2 options here for hotels because they are both places that I truly love and recommend. You can choose the one that fits your vibe and budget the best.
Albergo Degli Amici: I have stayed at this hotel twice now, once as a solo traveler, and once with a bunch of friends and family. Both times I had a wonderful experience. As a solo traveler I felt very safe and well taken care of. I could walk to everything, the grounds gave me a lovely place to hang out, and my room was clean and comfortable. With friends and family this property was perfect. We were CONSTANTLY hanging out in the garden area above the hotel, having drinks, working out, relaxing together etc. We also all gathered for breakfasts in the morning & it was such a nice way to start our days. The breakfast here is fantastic and truly has SO much.
This hotel is a bit of a walk from the train station, but as long as you are in reasonable shape you should have no trouble walking anywhere in Monterosso. I love the location because it is a bit quieter and tucked away from the main area. This hotel is a 3 star hotel and I think the value for money here is spot on!
The true highlight of this hotel is the garden area and the incredible views over Monterosso. You can see all the way to the sea from the garden and you are surrounded by lemon trees, grape vines, and you can see the vineyards of Buranco as well.
Hotel Porta Roca: This is the most luxurious hotel in the Cinque Terre and would be perfect for a first trip to Italy or a special occasion. I put my parents up in this hotel the last time we visited and they fell in love. They were so well taken care of starting from a pick up from the train station and were well taken care of throughout their stay. If you want your Cinque Terre Itinerary to be a breeze this is the spot for you!
There are a number of amenities at this hotel like a large pool overlooking the sea and vineyards of the Cinque Terre, an on site restaurant, a pool bar, and more. They have rooms with balcony sea views and the rooms here are quite large and comfortable by European standards. The views from this hotel are some of the best in the whole of the Cinque Terre and you also have direct access to the hiking trails from here. The hotel also has a small private beach down in the town that they can help you to arrange a spot at.
Pesto Class at Nessun Dorma
It’s always nice to have something to do on check in day, especially if your room may not be ready yet. This is a great activity to throw down your bags and head right to it!
Make sure to check in with your hotel about a discount on the Cinque Terre card. If you’re staying in one of the 5 towns they’ll give you a code with a discount. This will help you move from town to town at a more reasonable price throughout your Cinque Terre Itinerary. Since you’re going to hop on the train to Manarola today, this is a great day to purchase the card.
Nessun Dorma has one of the most iconic views in all of the Cinque Terre & arguably one of the most fun activities. Although this pesto class could be considered extremely touristy, you are a tourist after all. The experience is so much fun, the views are epic, and the vibes are high. Not only are you learning to make pesto but there is some dancing and silly fun involved. It feels like a big kitchen party. You learn how to make DELICIOUS pesto, you get to eat the pesto with enough charcuterie, focaccia, melon, etc to be full enough for a proper lunch, and you get wine as well. You can also order extra drinks during the experience (at an additional cost). The baseline experience costs 85 euro and includes the class, food enough for lunch, and white wine.
If Nessun Dorma sounds a bit too much for you, or you like a more laid back vibe for your Cinque Terre Itinerary, there are tons of options for tours —–> Pesto Making Classes
If for some reason this spot doesn’t interest you, or is not in your budget, there are still amazing ways to enjoy essentially the same view. You could head into Manarola, get some pizza, focaccia, or frito misto in a cone, and head to the park above Nessun Dorma to have a picnic overlooking the town.
After class options
After class you have a few options, you could explore the town of Manarola a bit. You could wander to a lovely swimming hole around the corner from Nessun Dorma. If you continue to walk in the same direction around and behind Nesson Dorma there is a lovely little swimming area where you can jump in and cool off. This is not a beach, just a concrete area where boats likely used to come in, that is kind of a little bay. People just throw down their towels and jump right in.
Another option would be to return to Monterosso and relax on the sand beach for a bit. You could also hike to Riomaggiore and explore before heading back to Monterosso to get ready for dinner. You can customize this part of your Cinque Terre itinerary to your liking.
Dinner at Ristorante L’Ancora della Tortuga
This is a restaurant built into the the cliff side of Monterosso. It overlooks the sea and an old war bunker, which may sound weird, but actually is quite lovely. The interior of this spot is stunning, but if your’e visiting during warm weather I highly recommend asking to sit on the terrace to have dinner while watching the sunset. The food here is wonderful and eating dinner while watching the sunset is a truly lovely experience. I do recommend making reservations here in advance. You can message them through whatsapp or ask your hotel to help arrange dinner for you.
Day 2: Hike, bar/lunch stop, beach, dinner
Hike!
Start your day with some of the most beautiful hiking you’ll ever do. I should note that you definitely need to have a baseline reasonable level of fitness to include hiking in your Cinque Terre Itinerary. You can hike in sneakers with no trouble, but the paths/staircases can be steep and tiring if you’re not in shape. Thankfully many of the hikes are short so if you’re willing to take your time, you can get anywhere.
My advice is to begin by hiking from Monterosso to Vernazza. The hike starts by walking up towards the Porta Rocca hotel and then following the trail signs. You will need the Cinque Terre card to access this part of the trail.
The hike from Monterosso to Vernazza should take about 1.5-2 hours to complete. When you get to Vernazza you can stop for a snack and a swim in the bay! It is such a lovely place to stop and although the town can get very crowded mid day, the beach/bay area has room for everyone. Many day trippers don’t stop to take a swim.
When you feel rested I highly recommend you continue hiking on to Corniglia. This is my favorite part of the hiking trail because along the trail is my favorite spot. Bar Il Gabbiano is a bar/snack shop about halfway between Vernazza & Corniglia with some of the best views you ever did see. This is the most PERFECT stop in the middle of a day of hiking. Depending on your mood you can get delicious fruit smooties, or you can go wild and get a cocktail or aperol spritz. They have fruit & snacks and a shaded terrace area and you can relax and take in the views & enjoy your food and drinks. The people who run this spot are also some of the most lovely I have met in my travels. They are so kind & welcoming and it makes supporting them feel all that much better!
After your stop you can hike on to Corniglia and wander around the lovely village there too, maybe stop for a Gelato. You can hike on to Manarola from here, but be aware it is about a 2.5 hour hike so you’d have to really love hiking. Personally, I do, and I’d keep going on the hike. If you’re finding you’ve had enough you can hop the train back to Monterosso.
Beach/shop/relax/aperitivo
This is a good time of day to choose your own adventure. You could hit up any beach or swimming hole, go souvenir shopping around the towns, or find a bar and grab a drink and just enjoy the scene.
Dinner at Miky Ristorante OR Ittourismo Corniglia
I am going to give you a choice here, and i have to admit it’s going to be hard to choose. You may just need to add a fourth day into your Cinque Terre itinerary. Or try to shuffle around places to have one of these for lunch. But here we go.
Miky Ristorante: This is not just a dinner but an experience! Miky does a tasting menu that is truly fun! They have two different options for coursed out dinners, they also have a normal a la carte menu if tasting menus are not your thing. Another thing I love about this spot is that they were just as kind to me when I dined here solo as they were when I brought a group of 10. I really think that says a lot about a place! The food here is fantastic and if you do the tasting menu you get to try so much. The presentation is beautiful, the service is lovely and professional, and I truly recommend this spot. You should absolutely make reservations if you want to dine here.
Ittourismo Corniglia: This spot is almost the opposite of Miky. It takes some effort to get here, you need to either hike up over Corniglia or arrange a transportation (sometimes they will help you if you reach out to them. They picked us up from the train station). This place is a fisherman’s spot and you eat what they catch the days before while sitting at wooden tables in their garden terrace.
The fish is INSANELY fresh and delicious and the views are some of the most incredible I’ve seen. It is a more “down home” operation and is incredibly lovely. The family that runs this spot are so kind & helpful. Instead of ordering off the menu here they offered to just bring us a tasting of a number of things and we went for it. I am so glad we did as everything was fantastic. They also had incredible pasta. I highly recommend you put in the time and effort to visit this special spot.
*If you do go to dinner in another town, make sure to check the train times so that you can get back to the town you’re staying in. Train times will be important throughout your Cinque Terre itinerary planning
Day 3: Wine tasting, lunch, beach, dinner
Wine tasting & hike with Luca from Eroico Vineyard
This was SUCH a fun and unique way to get to experience a wine tasting and we absolutely LOVED it. We hopped the train over to Vernazza and met Luca to hike up to his vineyard over Vernazza. The hike was pretty brief and beautiful and before we knew it we were sitting in a little shaded area overlooking the vineyard and the village of Vernazza.
We got to taste a number of different wines with some crackers, pesto, and tomatoes from the family. It was such an incredible setting to learn about the wine, learn about the challenges and triumphs of winemaking in the Cinque Terre, and to learn about Luca and his family and how this all came to be.
We also truly loved the wine and wished we could bring some onward with us in our travels! I highly recommend this experience if you’re into wine!
Alternative options
If wine isn’t your thing, or you had enough hiking yesterday, there are plenty of other options for things to do on your Cinque Terre itinerary. You could kayak, take the ferry boat out, do another fun class, spend the day at the beach, etc.
You could check out some alternative awesome tour options and see what suits you —–> Cinque Terre Tour Options
How to spend your afternoon
After the tour you again, have a number of options for how to spend your afternoon. We enjoyed grabbing an umbrella & chair set up at Stella Marina for a few hours. The thing I love about this spot is that you can rent your chair online in advance. This way you don’t have to stress about rolling up and not having a spot. This is also the place that has the iconic aperol spritz buckets and I can confirm they are as delightful as they look.
Dinner at Buranco Winery
This is my literal favorite location on this Cinque Terre itinerary. I visited solo and had the best time wine tasting and having dinner here. So much so that I brought my entire family and friends back the following summer and renewed my vows with my husband here.
The food here is my favorite in all of the Cinque Terre, you can’t go wrong, absolutely everything is good. I know this because when I visited with 11 other people we ordered close to everything on the menu. The setting is gorgeous and it looks like a vineyard from a movie scene and the area where dinner is served us absolutely lovely. It looks like an extremely well decorated outdoor living room.
I highly recommend heading here before dinner and either doing their wine tasting or sitting in the stunning vineyard garden area and having a drink or two and just enjoying the scene.
If you are still looking for more things to add to your Cinque Terre itinerary, you can easily spend more days here, check out my other posts about the Cinque Terre.
Update To The Cinque Terre Itinerary
This past summer we were able to revisit the Cinque Terre and stay in Riomaggiore as a base. I wrote a whole blog post about our experience. You can check it out here and see if there is anything new you’d like to add to your Cinque Terre Itinerary. —> Riomaggiore as a Base
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