Once we got settled into our hotel room in Genoa, we were ready to start our day trips. The most important one for me was to explore the Cinque Terre (5 Lands) area about an hour’s drive south.

Fortunately, we saw the two southernmost towns of Riomaggiore and Manarola the previous evening on the way to Genoa. Each of the towns is pedestrian-only so driving by car can be cumbersome. You have to pay to park in a lot usually a good walk from the town and on weekends in the summer, you might not find parking at all. In our research, we learned that four of the five towns are connected by boat service. There were different prices for just the boat ride, stopping at each town, etc. We also read that train travel is another simple way to see the towns, which are only about five minutes apart.

Research indicated that our best bet was to buy the Cinque-Terre train pass, which included unlimited (2nd class) train travel, free access to the trails, wi-fi and bathroom facilities at the train stations. We drove our rental car to the town of Levanto, which is just north of the Cinque-Terre and offers more parking. We bought our passes at the station and boarded the train. Within 15 minutes, we got off at Corniglia.

Corniglia (pronounced Cornelia) is the smallest of the five villages with a total population of 150 people. Since it’s not directly on the water, it’s a bit harder to reach as the boats don’t make a stop and from the train station, you must climb 370 steps or take a shuttle to reach the town. We opted for the shuttle service since it was included in the cost of our Cinque-Terre train pass.

I loved that the town wasn’t crowded and we visited several shops, feasting our eyes on the large lemons for sale. Stopping in the Largo Taragio square at the Oratory of St. Catherine, we found cute restaurants. We chose Il Buongustaio.

Hiking the trails is popular in the Cinque-Terre. Since the trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola was closed due to the 2011 landslides, we would have to do the more difficult trails. We found the trailhead in Corniglia, showed our pass (bypassing the 7.50 Euro fee) and hiked the 4km to Vernazza.

Even though it was a weekend in the summer, the Cinque-Terre hike wasn’t crowded. We passed a few people here and there, but felt we had the trail mostly to ourselves.

The hike followed the coast and took us up and down several steep and curvy paths. We kept a brisk pace and finished it in about an hour. Since the trail is mostly in the sun, hats and water are recommended. I had water, but no hat so I placed a shirt on top of my head to deflect the sun’s heat. About midway was a small restaurant, but we didn’t stop. Finally, we saw Vernazza in the distance.

Vernazza seemed to be the most touristy of the villages – probably because its been voted as one of the prettiest villages in Italy. Our main goal was water and rest from our hike. We stood in line at a gelateria and devoured the tasty treats. Then we took a walk down to the harbor, which is beautiful with its sandy white beach.

We didn’t stay long in Vernazza and soon took the 5-minute train ride to Montorossa al Mare. The largest of the villages, it is relatively flat. I thought it wouldn’t be as scenic, but where Montorossa lacks in hills, it more than makes up with its long strips of beaches.

Talk about being unprepared! We hadn’t brought our swim suits with us on the train. Since we all had on shorts, we kicked off our shoes and waded into the cool water. Unlike beaches in the United States, these beaches had more pebbles. I thought it would be hard on our feet, but it really wasn’t. Thing 1, who normally doesn’t like sand, loved this beach.

Monterossa has two sections, the old town and the new town. The new town is next to the sea with beaches and resorts while the old town is on the other side of the train station. To get to the Old Town, we walked through a tunnel.

While the Old Town was fun, the streets began to look like all the others in the Cinque-Terre, our heart was with the beach instead. We took the seaside path, instead of the tunnel, back to the beach. Since it was mid-afternoon we ordered bruschetta and hung out before taking the train back to Levanto.