May 3, 2023 - Cinque Terre

 We are on the road by7:30 to Cinque Terre. we were going to spend the night somewhere close by, but couldn’t find anything in our budget. Which is pretty low lol. We ended up booking a place in a little village called Variana, north of Cinque Terre.  

The 5 villages are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglea, Vernazza and Monterosso. We had no idea where we were going, but followed our GPS to Riomaggiore. You couldn’t drive down to it as the parking lots were full. So we continued on until I saw a sign for Vernazza; it is supposed to be the most beautiful village in the Cinque Terre and is nicknamed “Pearl of the Cinque Terre” so I asked Richard to stop there. We drove down and luckily, found a parking spot right at the point where you couldn’t drive any further. Wooppee!! Little did I know that there was about 1 1/2 km to walk before we actually arrived at the village. The crowds of people down there were massive. We wandered around the paths and on the cliffs. The views were amazing. We decided that we should buy a train ticket to go and visit the other villages but in the end decided that we would just carry on our drive to our next stay. And of course, if you’ve walked downhill one and a half kilometres you now have to walk back up hill one and a half kilometres to your car. We’re certainly getting our exercise.










Little did we know that this drive takes you all along the cliffs in the national park and I’m glad we left when we did because we didn’t arrive at our room in Variana until 630. I have never seen a road with more twists and turns and hairpin turns. Thank God our car is really small. I can see why the toll roads charge you to drive on them.

Finally!! We arrive at Borgata Casa and our room is in what looks like an old castle or something. The room is beautifully appointed with everything we need. I love it! The bed looks comfy. It’s queen size and the breakfast food is all in our room and in the fridge.





It’s so nice to be off the beaten track in a small town. We’re able to find a pizzeria not too far from our place and the food was delicious. It’s a family owned business that has been owned by the same family for 3 or 4  generations.


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