Introduction to the ‘city’ of Riomaggiore

A close up shot of colorful houses in Riomaggiore

 When I went to the Cinque Terre in 2011, a former Italian student recommended staying in Riomaggiore, as the most attractive of the villages. However, if you Google ‘best Cinque Terre village’ you could find support for each of the five options. It comes down to preference.

The sandy beach front area at Monterosso

Monterosso is furthest away from the south of Italy and train station of La Spezia. It does, however, have the only sandy beach in the area. Also, Monterosso feels the ‘biggest’ in the sense that it does not have the iconic houses built into the cliffside, overhanging the water. The town sits at water level, hence, the accessibility to a longer stretch of sandy beach.

     Riomaggiore, my choice, is the southernmost village with a vast selection of options for restaurants. It is incredibly picturesque with a gorgeous harbor, fishing boats suspended in turquoise waters. There are beaches to visit in Riomaggiore as well, only they are considered ‘rocky’ with small pebbles instead of sand; this is always fine in my experience, just wear flipflops or watershoes. One beach called appropriately, Riomaggiore beach, can be reached by foot, and the other, Fossala beach, can now only be reached by boat. This latter beach is wild and lovely, however. From the harbor area, the display of pastel colored houses is suspended above you; the houses have dimension and individual character but also appear as a unit, the quintessential postcard scene. Through more recent research, it is clear the quality and variety of restaurants in Riomaggiore has only improved.

A view towards the Via Dell’Amore

Even though the Via Dell’Amore which connects Riomaggiore to Manarola on a 1km walkway was closed at the time of writing, I would still probably recommend this village. I think it offers the most, and you can take the train between any of the villages, especially with the Treno card, which, if you purchase, you can get unlimited rides between the five villages. You can now buy this and the hiking pass online. Update 2023: The Via Dell’Amore appears to still be closed (I write this with a slightly intentional ironic tone if you happen to be familiar with construction timelines in Italy…)

      There are arguments for choosing to stay in one of the three villages in the middle, as well. Yet, from Manarola, the second village after Riomaggiore, the blue trail or Sentiero Azzurro was also currently closed at the time of writing. However, I would recommend taking the red trail between Manarola and Corniglia via Volastra if you want a more rigorous hiking experience, even if the blue trail is open. If you Google ‘Volastra’, on the map you will see that it lies above and between these two towns. The red trails are more arduous, but the views are worth it as I explain further in the post dedicated to the Sentiero Azzurro.

Signorini, Telemaco. 'Riomaggiore Et Son Vignoble’. 1894. Wikiart. https://www.wikiart.org/en/telemaco-signorini/riomaggiore-et-son-vignoble-1894Public Domain

     Back to Riomaggiore, the late 19th century painter, Telemaco Signorini is closely associated with the town. He captured the splendor of the streets and seascapes of Riomaggiore on canvas. When he started to visit the town in the latter half of the 19th century, the railway did not even connect the larger town of La Spezia to Riomaggiore, so he was certainly an early pioneer in celebrating the beauty of this town. The railway was built in the 1870s and coupled with Signorini’s paintings displayed for larger audiences, Riomaggiore commanded more and more attention as a tourist destination.