Cinque Terre
Italy
Five villages stacked on cliffs above the Ligurian Sea, joined by a footpath and a train
Photos by Elias Kipfer, Kristīne Zāle (Macro Viewpoint), Taisha Ellison and Sami Hobbs on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Italy
May to June, and September to October — high summer is shoulder-to-shoulder
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 145mm in Nov
Where it is
44.13°N, 9.71°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Walk Vernazza to Monterosso, which takes two hours and earns lunch
- Watch the sun go down over Manarola from the cemetery path
- Swim off the rocks at Monterosso, the only real beach of the five
- Take the ferry once, to see the villages the way they were meant to be seen
- Climb the steps to Corniglia and have the place half to yourself
Cinque Terre travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Italy
ExpensiveEuro country and cards work, but the villages are small and several of the best places to eat still take cash only. Bring more than you think; the machines run dry in August.
ATMs & cards
There are only a handful of machines across all five villages and they are mostly independent operators with high fees. Draw in La Spezia or Levanto before you arrive, where the bank machines are.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- the independent machines in the five villages
Use these instead
- Banca Carige
- Intesa Sanpaolo, in La Spezia or Levanto
There are only a handful of machines across all five villages and most are independent with high fees. Draw in La Spezia before the train.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Italy
Very safeVery safe, and the danger is entirely underfoot. The paths are narrow with unfenced drops, and people are hurt on them every season wearing the wrong shoes — trainers at minimum, and check which sections are open before setting out. Trains are packed in August and the platforms are short; mind the gap and the crowd.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the coastal paths after heavy rain — landslides close sections without much warning, and the closures last
- the station platforms in August — very crowded, and the trains are short
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Italy visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Italy
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Pharmacies handle a lot of minor problems directly and are the fastest route to advice.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodLigurian food: pesto made with a pestle, trofie and trenette to put it on, and anchovies from Monterosso salted or fried. Focaccia here is thinner and oilier than the Genoese kind. The white wine is Sciacchetrà if you can find it.
Getting around
EasyThe villages are closed to cars and there is nothing to hail. The local train between them runs every twenty minutes and the Cinque Terre card covers it.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Rome — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Italy
Why these are Italy's numbers and not Cinque Terre's
Home broadband — Good. Comfortable for two people working, streaming in the evening, large downloads. Broadband here runs at 84% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 78% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Cinque Terre, so these are medians for all of Italy. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Italy, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Italian
- HelloBuongiornobwon-JOR-no
- PleasePer favoreper fa-VO-reh
- Thank youGrazieGRAT-tsyeh
- Yes / NoSì / Nosee / no
4 more phrases
- Excuse meScusiSKOO-zee
- How much is it?Quanto costa?KWAN-to KOS-ta
- The bill, pleaseIl conto, per favoreeel KON-to
- Cheers!Salute! / Cin cin!sa-LOO-teh / chin chin
Ciao is for people you know. With shopkeepers and waiters, buongiorno until evening, then buonasera.
Religion
Catholic
The Vatican is a sovereign state inside Rome. Dress codes are enforced at St Peter’s and most major churches: shoulders and knees covered, and they will turn you away.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Say buongiorno rather than ciao to anyone you do not know
- Drink cappuccino only before about 11:00; after a meal it is an espresso
- Cover shoulders and knees to enter churches, including the major basilicas
- Validate regional train tickets before boarding or risk a fine
Don't
- Do not ask for parmesan on seafood pasta — it is a genuine culinary offence here
- Do not sit on monument steps in Rome or Florence; both cities fine it
- Do not order a coffee "to go" and expect it to be normal
- Do not tip beyond rounding up; coperto already covers the cover charge
Where to stay in Cinque Terre
No Holistay rentals in Cinque Terre yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Cinque Terre on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Pisa Galileo Galilei PSA
1h 30mfrom the airport· 74 km as the crow flies
1h30 by train via La Spezia.
Also worth pricing: Genoa GOA — a similar ride down the coast from the north.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
