Cinque Terre’s cliffside villages and terraced coast

Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast near La Spezia strings five cliffside villages along a terraced shoreline shaped by vineyards and stone walls.

Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast near La Spezia is a chain of five compact villages clinging to steep cliffs between the hills and the Ligurian Sea in north-west Italy. The area forms a cultural landscape where terraces, vineyards and fishing harbours share the same narrow strip of land, and since 1997 it has formed part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as Cinque Terre National Park.

Five villages on a narrow Ligurian coast

The name Cinque Terre, meaning “Five Lands”, refers to the villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore which line the eastern stretch of the Ligurian Riviera in the province of La Spezia.The five villages sit within Liguria and share a coastline between Levanto and the outskirts of La Spezia.The World Heritage property extends along this section of shore

Each village occupies a ledge or inlet where the slopes drop towards the sea, with houses packed closely together and painted in varied, muted colours that pick up the light differently as it moves. Monterosso al Mare spreads along a wider bay, Vernazza curls around a compact harbour, Corniglia stands on a promontory above the water, Manarola clusters around a small inlet, and Riomaggiore rises above a short waterfront.

A terraced landscape shaped for vines and olives

The hills behind the five villages are carved into narrow agricultural terraces supported by dry-stone walls, creating long horizontal bands that step up from the coastal path to the ridgelines.UNESCO describes the eastern Ligurian coast here as a cultural landscape developed with stone-walled terraces and notes that this pattern has supported vines and olive trees for centuries.The terraces frame the villages as part of a protected cultural landscape

Paths run along and across these terraces, linking hamlets, chapels and viewpoints between the sea and the hinterland. In places the stone walls rise directly above the cliffs, while elsewhere they enclose small plots of vines overlooking the railway and the sea below. From many points on the paths the line of all five villages can be seen stepping along the coast, with the terraces forming a continuous band behind them.

Protected status and access by rail and path

Cinque Terre forms part of an Italian national park established in 1999, which covers the five coastal communes and sections of the surrounding hills.Cinque Terre National Park is recorded as Italy’s smallest national park by area and includes the territory of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare along with parts of Levanto and La Spezia.The park is listed as a protected coastal strip in the province of La Spezia

In 1997 the area entered the World Heritage List under the combined entry “Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)”, recognising the interaction between settlement, agriculture and topography along this part of the Ligurian coast.The inscription cites criteria relating to cultural exchange and the preservation of a traditional way of life and anchors Cinque Terre within a wider coastal ensemble that includes Portovenere and nearby islands.

A coastal railway links Levanto with La Spezia, passing through tunnels behind each village so that platforms sit close to the historic centres, while footpaths connect the settlements along the slopes and ridges above the sea.The five towns are connected by paths and a rail line enables movement along the short stretch of coast between them.

Visiting Cinque Terre: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Cinque Terre lies on the Ligurian coast of north-west Italy, in the province of La Spezia, between the towns of Levanto and La Spezia and south of Genoa.
• The terrain rises steeply from the sea, with stepped streets, stairways and paths linking the upper houses, terraces and chapels to the harbours and railway stations below.
• The official language is Italian and the currency is the euro.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Cinque Terre

Where is Cinque Terre?

Cinque Terre is on the Ligurian coast of north-west Italy, in the province of La Spezia between Levanto and La Spezia, overlooking the Ligurian Sea.

What should visitors expect on a visit?

Visitors encounter compact coastal villages with steep streets, railway stations close to the centres and paths that climb through terraces of vines and olives above the sea.

What makes Cinque Terre distinctive?

Cinque Terre stands out as a continuous sequence of cliffside villages set within a terraced landscape recognised as both a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape.