Started the day by heading to La Spezia to catch the train. La Spezia is a port city with a population of around 94,000 people and is known for being the gateway to Cinque Terre. It has a beautiful location in the Gulf of La Spezia surrounded by green hills and with the view of the mountains in the background. Aside from its commercial port activities including being a major stop for Mediterranean cruise ships, La Spezia is also a key military hub and most of the Italian Navy is based here.

Cinque Terre are five enchanting seaside villages perched high on the cliffs of the Italian Riviera: Manorola, Riomaggiore, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. Cinque Terre pronounced "chink-kwa tear-eh", literally translates to five villages. The Cinque Terre is a national park and a UNESCO world heritage site which is noted for its beauty. With 1,000 years of extremely hard work local people have turned the natural forests and rough, rocky, steep slopes into lush cultivated terraces. They have built about 7,000 kilometres of dry-stone walls, carrying millions of baskets of stones and soil on their heads and shoulders, up and down the hills, climbing more than any of us could imagine. Once a terrace was ready, they planted vine, vegetables and basil, as well as different types of trees: mainly olive, lemon and orange.I have seen thousands of pictures of these little villages, but nothing prepares you for how magnificent they are in real life - they truly are picture postcard perfect!!

With only a day it was decided to focus on visiting 3 of the towns; first stop Vernazza considered to be one of the most beautiful of all the villages according to our guide. Vernazza was founded about 1000 A.D. and was ruled by the Republic of Genoa starting in 1276. The medieval castle, Belforte, and the Tower of Doria were built in the mid-1500's, primarily to protect the village from pirates. The village features a picturesque small port and is surrounded by very steeply-terraced olive groves which are said to produce among the finest olive oil in the country.

Next stop was Manarola, built on a high rock 70 metres above sea level and seems to tumble down into the sea. It is one of the most charming and romantic of the villages and is the one most easily recognisable from all those picture postcards. The village is all ups and downs, with steep narrow alleys called carrugi, leading to the sea. If you venture up to the top of Manarola (think very steep), make sure you check out the San Lorenzo church built in 1338. Today it serves as a religious and community meeting place, but in ancient times, the bell tower was used as a post to watch for potential pirate raids.

Our last stop was the delightful village of Riomaggiore. The origins of Riomaggiore date back to the 8th Century, when the inhabitants of the Vara valley, searching a milder climate to raise grapevines and olive-trees without the fear of pirate raids, moved towards the coast. The town climbs up along the ridges overlooking the sea and it is characterized from the typical stone houses with coloured façades and slate-roofs.

We were absolutely spellbound with this vsit and this is one area I would really like to spend more time in......