"Cinque Terre is very expensive", explained Gabri, my Italian friend. He continues, "it's one of the most expensive place in Italy." "But it's so beautiful!" I exclaimed. A few days later, I bought tickets to Cinque Terre. It was supposed to be a solo trip, but a few days before the trip, Demi spontaneously decided to join me. [Cinque Terre - Five Lands // Pronounced as "ching-kueh tehr-ray"// the 5 lands are - Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore] The journey to Cinque Terre was surprisingly easy. We flew from Eindhoven Airport to Pisa Airport. From Pisa, take the skytrain (Pisa Mover) to Pisa Central (2.70 Euros for a single trip, or 5.40 Euros for a return trip). From Pisa Central, purchase a train ticket to one of the 5 lands of Cinque Terre. Just a note though, I personally think train transport is pretty expensive (a return train ticket cost around the price of my return plane ticket.... So around ~40 Euros) We stayed in a hostel in Levanto called Ospitalia del Mare, which costs 24 Euros a night, and IT INCLUDES BREAKFAST! Levanto is a town right outside Cinque Terre (so things aren't as expensive because its not exactly touristy). I personally really like the hostel for its location. It's 2 minutes to the beach/food area. It's also a rather chill location. We went to the beach at night and basked in one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen in my life. If you're a spontaneous traveller like me, or you plan to hike/take the train a lot, I suggest getting the Cinque Terre Pass. It's an all day unlimited pass to take the train, bus, and enter the hiking trails, all for 16 Euros. (Yes, you have to pay to hike!) Do remember to validate your tickets before using them! Or else they aren't valid! You can get these passes at the tourist information of train stations. If you intend to hike, I suggest going to the tourist information prior to hiking, because some trails might be closed due to landslides. The weather in Cinque Terre is amazing. It was 20'C in early October in the day, but it felt like a 26'C, so you could actually swim in the beach and wear shorts. But it's pretty chilly at night. Demi and I decided to hike from Levanto to Monterosso, which is apparently a free hike. I highly do not recommend this unless you are an experienced hiker. The trail seemed pretty dangerous (even though the view paid off!) as it was steep and not very well maintained (the result of the trails being free, I reckon!). There are also little hand rails, unlike those paid hikes. There is a 100m stretch that was extremely dangerous and I was honestly freaking out. But then again, Demi hiked in heeled boots and was way faster and braver than me. One of my roommate also hiked in his thongs and turned out fine! The hike is supposedly 2 hours, but we took 4 hours because we stopped a lot for photos. Monterosso was not very beautiful compared to the other towns, but still quaint nonetheless. We then decided to train to Riomaggiore, because Chelsea told me that was beautiful and that there was a pebble beach there. (Thanks Chelsea! She has helped so much with our itinerary) At Riomaggiore, every turn was photogenic. There were also a lot of potentially dangerous rocks you could climb on to take photos for your instagram feed. Just be careful when you climb. The risk taken is extremely worth it though, it is AMAZING to be near the crashing waves. Check out Demi on one of the rocks! We decided to hunt for this pebble beach. Took us quite a while but we finally found the Spiaggia di Riomaggiore. It was fucking beautiful. The most beautiful beach I've been in my life. There's something special about this beach. The clear blue waters, the pebbles, the hard crashing wave, and the sound of the crashing waves... oh the sound! It's a symphony of rocks rubbing against each other, almost like thunder, I've never heard anything like that before. It was almost majestic. I love this beach because the water was harsh, but being there made me feel so calm. It also helps that there weren't much people when we were there. I don't think the way I explain does that place any justice. You just have to BE there, and experience that place for yourself. We chilled there for a good hour. After that, we headed back to Levanto for dinner. We found that dinner in Levanto was much cheaper than in Cinque Terre (but apparently, Beatriz, who went one day after us, found cheap food in Cinque Terre. I'm not sure!). The next day, Demi left for the Netherlands, and I continued exploring Cinque Terre myself. I took the train to Vernazza. Vernazza is pretty quaint as well. Then, I hiked from Vernazza to Corniglia. Vernazza from afar looks extremely beautiful, and chill, like the kind of place you want to retire at. The hike to Corniglia took an hour and was drastically easier than the hike from Levanto to Monterosso. At the halfway point, there's a bar with this AMAZING view. Remember to stop by and bask in this awesomeness! Corniglia was pretty small. I literally saw, and left. Similar to Vernazza, rather quaint, but feels very Italian, weirdly. This town is very different from the rest as the city centre is away from the water. Nonetheless, it was still beautiful. Finally, I took the train to Manarola. Manarola was extremely beautiful, but also the most touristic. It is straight out of a postcard. I met a Dutch lady here and she was fan girling about how Manarola is her favourite town, and how it's beautiful. I was telling her that my favourite was Riomaggiore because of the beach. Apparently, there were some people who were swimming in Manarola. Unfortunately, I was carrying a lot of camera gears so I didn't think about swimming there. I also visited a hiking shop in Manarola, called Cinque Terre Trekking. I bought Scarpa Hiking Boots there for 120 Euros, which I think is rather affordable for the quality I'm paying for. The staff there also knew their products very well, and spoke amazing English. So if you're looking for affordable hiking boots (or rather, cheaper hiking boots than those in the Netherlands), check them out!
Ended my trip with a nice dinner with Georgie, an Australian lady I met in the hostel. She's a pretty cool lady who has been on the road for 5 months, and it's cool because she's a graphic designer. We took the train to Pisa back together the next day and I left sunny and warm Italy to cold and rainy Netherlands. [Okay, I know this post sounds a bit sponsored but no, everything here is sincere and unpaid for haha] For those interested, this is my budget breakdown: Return Flight from Eindhoven to Pisa via Ryanair = 55 Euro / 87SGD Accommodations for 3 Nights = 72 Euro / 114 SGD Return Pisa Mover = 5.40 Euro / 8.60 SGD Return Train to Levanto = 40.50 Euro / 64.8 SGD Food = 64.10 Euro / 102.57 SGD Cinque Terre Passes = 32 Euro / 51 SGD Total = 269 Euro / 428 SGD
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Xin Yee21. Personal thoughts. Categories
All
Archives |