A first few tips by a local on how to plan a visit to Cinque Terre. Everybody knows one of the downsides of visiting a place like this during high season is how crowded it can be. Avoid the side effects of the Riviera popularity is possible using some simple tricks…Here you go with some tips by locals about what to do and when organizing your trip to avoid crowds in Cinque Terre.
How to Plan Your Visit to Cinque Terre: The 5 Must Do
1. Try to Avoid August and Weekends
These are the basic rules: we are talking about a place used as last-minute escape by all people from Northern Italy and bordering inland regions. It’s also popular in Italy to have some time off from work in August, especially the last two weeks.
2. Rise and Shine
In Italian we have a proverb: “Il mattino ha l’oro in bocca”, which literally translated is like “Morning has gold in its mouth”. It means that morning is the best time to do anything. If you want to visit the villages without too much tourists, I suggest the earliest hours of the day, for example from 7 to 10. One of the reasons I say this is for example that cruisers come visit after 11.
3. Hiking as an Overview
Even though during summer it’s a bit too hot to hike all day, hiking offers you a perfect runaway to avoid crowds and enjoy the panorama from above. All you need to know to access to all Cinque Terre trekking paths is the famous card.
4. Secondary Streets in The Villages
The structure of every village in Cinque Terre is based on parallel streets that mostly take to the same point of the town. If you come in a day with a lot of tourists and you do not have too much time, you can always try to explore the villages using the secondary narrow streets, typical of Cinque Terre.
5. Do Not Stop at the First Beach
Reading some brief guides, you can see that most of villages have more then one beach where you can enjoy the seaside. Go for it and don’t stop as soon as you arrive to the marina. You undoubtedly will find less people around a simple corner.
Tips by Locals:
- The perfect time for your visit is undoubtedly June or September. The weather is as its best, people are still working a lot and cruises are less frequent than central summer months.
- If you hike take water with you, hot temperatures are dangerous.
- In Monterosso I suggest you a beach located after The Giant statue, you will be surrounded by nature.
- In Manarola I suggest you Palaedo, is a small place from which you can swim just around the corner of Punta Bonfiglio.
- My suggestion of using secondary streets is more suitable for Manarola and Vernazza than the other villages of Cinque Terre.
I hope it has been useful!