Looking down on Rapallo from the Montellegro Sanctuary.
When you tell someone your Italian vacation will include time visiting the Italian Riviera, they may not be familiar with the area. Despite the number of tourists that you will bump in Cinque Terre, or the relative fame of Portofino as an upscale resort town for yachts sailing in the Ligurian Sea, this picturesque and welcoming area of Italy is a lesser known destination than, say, Tuscany or Venice. So where exactly is it? It’s a crescent shaped region in northwestern Italy. Genoa is the capital of the region, Liguria. The westernmost portion borders France near Monaco. The coastal towns that make this region a draw include the 5 cliff towns known collectively as Cinque Terre. Other communities are Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure, and Rapallo.
Rapallo
We spent the first couple of days of our recent Italian Riviera adventure in Rapallo. First, I have to provide a very warm recommendation for our little B&B that we stayed at in Rapallo called Hotel San Desiderio. It is run by Marco and Filippo along with their dog, Idefix. Hotel San Desiderio is a welcoming mid-budget bed and breakfast. It’s located about 5 minutes walk from the promenade and about the same distance to the train station. Marco is fluent in english (and several other languages).
Looking in to the port at Portofino
In Rapallo, you can take a cable car up the mountain to the Montellegro Sanctuary. This will give you a birds eye view of the coastal resorts. From any of these fishing/resort villages you can easily catch a water ferry or private water taxi to the others.
We hopped the afternoon ferry for a ride to Santa Margherita Ligure where we enjoyed lunch on the waterfront. Rather than wait for the next ferry, we decided to walk the several miles to Portofino. The towns recently installed a red carpet that runs from the Rapallo Castle to Portofino. It’s the longest red carpet in the world! In portofino we avoided the Louie Vuitton store and opted for gelato instead. The Mount Portofino Regional Natural Park surrounds Portofino with dozens of hiking trails. There is one that will take hardy hikers down to historic San Fruttuoso. San Fruttuoso is home of an ancient Benedictine monastery and a sixteenth century watch tower, which can be toured.
At the end of the road in Riomaggiore
Cinque Terre
As lovely as the coastal resort villages of the Italian Riviera are, the highlight of Liguria is the Cinque Terre. Get here by car or by train, and spend a day journeying from Riomaggiore at one end to Monterosso at the other.
A train runs between the towns with regular departures. Alternatively, many tourists choose to visit the 5 towns by foot, hiking the coastal trail (8 euro trail pass required) or the more challenging mountain trail. The coastal trail is currently closed between Riomaggiore and Manarola due to trail damage from recent flooding, but are supposed to reopen in 2019. The mountain trail is more challenging, but rewards its hikers with stunning vineyard and coastal views. The entire hike took us about 7 hours including a breakfast and lunch break, and we were hustling.
Enjoying celebratory local wines in Riomaggiore to toast our wonderful day and our anniversary.
The highlights of the day were the quaint and colorful town of Vernazza, amazing pesto pasta lunch in Manarola, finding ourselves walking among the vines on the high mountain trail, and drinking locally made wine from a table overlooking the sea in Riomaggiore after our hike. We took a moment to put our feet in the water and really revel in all of the beauty that we had seen before making our way back to the train station for our ride back to Rapallo.
Our day in Cinque Terre was also our 6th Wedding Anniversary and the absolute perfect way to spend it together!
