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If you have heard of Vernazza, you may have also heard that it’s Rick Steves’ favorite town in the Cinque Terre. The question remains, though, does it live up to its reputation of being the best? It certainly does (although Manarola is my personal favorite).
Not only is Vernazza stunningly beautiful and colorful, but it has the cutest little harbor with tiny fishing boats bobbing away. All the villages in the Cinque Terre are gorgeous and they each have their own standout points. It’s hard to choose a favorite among the five villages, and if you only have limited time to visit the Cinque Terre area, how do you decide which to see? If the only town you ever make it to is Vernazza, you will not be disappointed!
On our visit to the Cinque Terre, we were only able to see three towns in one day. If you do visit the region, I highly recommend at least two days to be able to stop and see all five towns, and at least three days if you really want to take your time exploring. Check out our post on visiting the Cinque Terre by train, which can be helpful in planning your visit here.
After our stops in Riomaggiore and Manarola, we ended our day here in Vernazza. Here are some highlights from our time there.
Vernazza Photo Spots
Many of you are probably dying to experience those Pinterest-worthy photos on your own adventure. The shot of Vernazza that you have probably seen most often is from up on the hill, off the pathway between Vernazza and Monterosso. There is a checkpoint booth on this path that you will have to pass if you want to hike up the trail and get to the right spot.
On the day we went, it was empty so we didn’t have to pay to access the trail. While we didn’t go the entire way to the ultimate spot (we were pretty tired from walking all day long), we did get some beautiful shots of the town and harbor from above.
Do also make sure you walk out to the edge of the boat dock and get your beautiful shot looking back at the town with the water and harbor boats.
Gelato in Vernazza
The first thing we did when we stepped off the train in Vernazza was get a tasty gelato at Gelateria Vernazza! Unfortunately, the shop guy was a little irritated that I was taking too long to select my gelato flavors. Sorry gelato man! Give me a little break here okay? It was my first Italian gelato, ever!
Seems like some of the Cinque Terre residents were not the friendliest of Italians – perhaps because their home is bombarded year round by millions of tourists? Anyone else notice this? Or perhaps they just had the pre-winter blues (we visited in the fall). Either way, the gelato was AMAZING.
Visiting the Burgus Bar
Vernazza has a tiny little bar called Burgus that serves cappuccinos, wine, beer, cocktails, etc. It was nice to take a break and sip some Italian beer after a long day of walking and exploring. Leave it to us to find the beer anywhere! I thought this was cool, as beer in Italy does not seem to be a big thing like is in places like the U.S. and Germany. It was pretty neat to be able to say we sampled some Italian birra!
There’s also a little shop up closer to the train station called Lunch Box that serves bottled beer, which is a perfect spot to sit and people watch while you wait for the next train.
Vernazza Cats!
There were a lot of cats in Vernazza. I’m not sure if they were pets, or just village cats, but I loooove animals and if you do too, then you’ll be happy to snap some photos of happy Vernazza cats.
Wander the Streets
Wandering through the narrow streets and alleys was definitely my favorite thing to do when we visited the Cinque Terre towns. These are the spaces where everyday life is evident and are the most beautiful to me. As visitors to these wonderful towns, we always want to make sure that we respect that space.
These doors were definitely not made with tall people in mind!
Don’t forget to watch our YouTube video on visiting Cinque Terre!
Have you ever been to Vernazza? What did you like best about this beautiful town?
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