Travel Italy: Vacation Packages, Tips, Tours of Italy

If you are visiting Italy early February and are looking for a place to celebrate Valentine’s day, Camogli, a small town located on the Italian Riviera, is the right place for you.
Just a few km away from the Cinque Terre area, located between Portofino Mountain and the Ligurian Sea, Camogli is a tourist resort with narrow streets which are lined by tall columns of pastel colored homes. It offers an ideal setting for romance.

Furthermore, from Feb. 3 through 18, Camogli will be hosting a Valentine festival.

For two weeks, many Valentine themed events are held in the town. Restaurants and pasticcerie offer dinners and cakes related to Valentine themes. A special Valentine market sells luxurious gifts on the promenade.
If you choose to dine at any Camogli’s restaurant, try local delicacies such as handmade pasta with pesto sauce, seafood, and the local dessert specialty, chocolate-rum Camogliesi.

When: Feb 3 -18
Where: Camogli (see on the interactive map)
Getting there: the best way is by train; it’s just a 20-minute train ride from Genoa.
Find accommodations in Camogli and Liguria.

Below a video about Cinque Terre, showing the images of the five villages — Monterosso, Manarola, Corniglia, Riomaggiore, and Vernazza, including the several hiking trails linking them, always having a fantastic view from the mountainous foot path to the sea.

(via YouTube).

- See Cinque Terre on the interactive map.

“What’s the most convenient place to park the car while staying in the Cinque Terre for a few days?”

In each of the Cinque Terre towns is possible parking.

All of the them (except Corniglia) have parking lots which are connected to the town by shuttle services.

If these parking are crowded, you can park outside the five towns. You have several options. Levanto, from there it’s an easy drive to Cinque Terre; from Levanto you can also easy rail into the Cinque Terres.
You can park in Lerici and ferry to the Cinque Terre.
Also Parking in La Spezia and rail into the Cinque Terre is an option; there are two lots near the train station.

- See Cinque Terre on the interactive map.
- Browse accommodations in the Cinque Terre area.

“We are planning to spend a couple of days in the Cinque Terre. Is it enough time to explore the 5 villages? Any suggestions on itineraries and places to explore in 2 days?”

If you want to do hiking, you can do all the sea side trails in around 8/9 hours (from Riomaggiore to Monterosso with a stop in each of five town). You also could split this itinerary up into two days.

Another option, you base your stay in the town of Vernazza, from there you could walk down to Corniglia and eventually back to Vernazza by train. Another day, again by train you could go to Riomaggiore, explore the beach south of village and walk back to village of Manarola.

- See Cinque Terre on the interactive map.
- Browse accommodations in the Cinque Terre area.

The Cinque Terre is ranked at the top among the Italian sea destinations.
That is what emerged by Legambiente’s 2006 Guida Blu published by the Italian Touring Club.

The Tyrrhenian Sea was the most awarded Italian sea by the 2006 Guida Blu.
Behind Cinque Terre (area including the villages Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza e Monterosso), 9 localities on the Tirrenian coast, awarded with the maximum score of ‘’five sails'’, were included in the top ten.
They are Castiglion della Pescaia and Capalbio (Tuscany), Arbus, Bosa and Villasimius (Sardinia), Pollica Acciaroli (Campania), Pioppi, Giglio Island, Portovenere (Liguria).

The table was compiled based on the results of 128 tests on issues ranging from the quality of the sea environment and bathing waters to services to local gastronomy etc…

See Cinque Terre on the map.
Find accommodation in the Cinque Terre area.