Or actually, this one should be called “How not to visit Cinque Terre”.
The odds were against us from the beginning; Ingrid and I were located about something more than 200 kilometers from the region and the car ride took us on long local roads, thus becoming very long. It was already in the middle of the afternoon when we arrived at our first point of destination.
Porto Venere
Granted, we had a beautiful start in this magnificent town which dates back from the 1st century. Parking our car at the bay was easy and we went for a walk.
Ingrid and I turned around the corner and saw the marina with the stunning pastel houses.
Riomaggiore
The first real village of Cinque Terre!
Our joy in the village of the thirteenth century was actually short-lived. The whole village was closed off for traffic and there was simply no place to park the car. We had no other choice than to drive higher up the road and take pictures from up high.
Lesson learned: it is better to explore Cinque Terre on foot or bike!
How would things go in the other villages?