Fun Things To Do Near Cinque Terre, Italy
Cinque Terre is a stunningly unique national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its brightly colored clifftop buildings along the northwest coast of Italy. There’s plenty to do and plenty to see in Cinque Terre itself, but there are also some lesser known towns nearby with great sights and activities.
When I visited Cinque Terre, I stayed at a hostel in La Spezia, a bigger city nearby with a major regional train station. I spent a day exploring Cinque Terre, and I spent a two more days visiting nearby towns in the area (largely motivated by weather conditions and trail closures in the national park).
In this blog post, you can read about my top favorite things I did just outside of Cinque Terre.
Exploring Portovenere
Portovenere is a gorgeous coastal town that in many ways resembles the five villages of the Cinque Terre—so much so that Portovenere is often referred to as the sesta terra, or sixth land.
Portovenere is located just outside of the Cinque Terre, and it’s easily accessible by bus from La Spezia. So if you’re looking for another beautiful town to explore outside of the Cinque Terre, Portovenere might just be for you.
If you get the chance to visit, I recommend taking some time to stroll around and explore the town’s colorful buildings. Portovenere is especially unique due to its a hilltop church and stone fortress wall around the edge of the town that gives it a medieval feel.
Beach Day in Lerici
Cinque Terre has an insanely picturesque rocky coastline, so sandy beaches aren’t very common. Monterosso is the exception, with large expanses of sandy beaches perfect for a typical beach day. But only certain areas of the Monterosso beach are free to the public, so during busy times, it might not be the best place for a beach day in the area.
An employee at my hostel (Gran Hostel Manin—which I recommend) explained the above to me and suggested a beach day in Lerici as an alternative. He said it’s a beautiful beach, but it’s likely to be less busy since it’s not in the Cinque Terre. And I’m very happy I took his advice.
Lerici has a nice, large stretch of free, public beach, which is tucked between vegetation-covered rocky hills. I enjoyed laying out on the beach and going for a swim in the bright blue water.
Eat Gelato and Stroll on the Pier in La Spezia
As I mentioned above, La Spezia is one of the bigger cities in the area around Cinque Terre. So it’s a great place to stay, especially if you’re looking for a cheaper option and/or you are interested in a little nightlife.
If you do stay in La Spezia, or you happen to stop by at some point in your trip, I recommend grabbing some gelato and walking out onto the pier. From the pier, you’ll see great views of the mountains that characterize the area, as well as buildings tucked into the hills.
If you’re looking for some cool things to do outside of the Cinque Terre, this post should help!
Enjoy your travels! I know I did!
