What's the best order to walk Cinque Terre's five villages?

South to north — Riomaggiore, then the Via dell'Amore to Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and finishing at Monterosso al Mare — works well because it ends at the only village with a proper beach, which rewards the walking with somewhere to actually stop and swim. It works equally well in reverse; the choice is mostly about whether you want to start your day at a beach town or a nightlife one.

Can you walk between all five villages in one day?

It's possible but ambitious — the full Sentiero Azzurro coastal trail covers roughly nine kilometres with real elevation change, and trail sections do periodically close after rain or rockfall. Most visitors either walk two or three connected sections and take the train for the rest, or spread the full sequence across two days.

Do you need the Via dell'Amore ticket if you're doing the whole walk?

Yes — it's a separate ticket from the Cinque Terre Card, sold at both the Riomaggiore and Manarola ends, with capped daily capacity. Buy it online ahead in peak season rather than risking a sold-out day or a long walk-up queue.

Which village should you save for last?

Monterosso al Mare if you're walking south to north, since it's the flattest and has the only real beaches — a good place to end a walking day rather than start one. If you're going the other direction, Riomaggiore's marina after dark is the strongest finish, since it's a genuinely different and better scene once the day-trip crowds have cleared out.

Is Corniglia worth the detour given it's not directly on the water?

Yes, precisely because of that — it's the quietest of the five villages and a natural, unhurried midpoint between the busier stops on either side. The climb up from the station is real, but the views back down the coast make it one of the more memorable stretches of the whole route.

Cinque Terre, Italy

The five villages, in the order the coastline actually gives them to you

Six essential stops across five villages, strung along nine kilometres of trail — here's how to walk them so the day builds instead of backtracking.

How the five signature stops actually line up along the coast, from the beach town to the nightlife one

Cinque Terre's main dispatch covers each of the five villages on its own terms, but almost every first-time visitor asks the same practical question: in what order do you actually see them? The honest answer is that the coastline mostly answers it for you. The regional train and the Sentiero Azzurro coastal trail both run in a single line from Monterosso al Mare in the north to Riomaggiore in the south, so the five villages — and the handful of specific spots inside them that everyone comes to photograph — naturally sequence themselves if you simply pick a direction and go.

This isn't a ranking of which village is best. It's a walking order: six stops, one in or near each village plus Vernazza's two signature pieces, arranged the way the coast actually presents them so a day or two of exploring builds in one direction rather than zig-zagging on the train. Whether you start at the beach end or the nightlife end is really a question of what kind of morning you want — this guide lays out the case for going south-to-north from Riomaggiore, the more common and arguably more rewarding direction, with notes on reversing it.

Each stop below gets its full treatment on the main Cinque Terre dispatch; what follows is specifically how they connect to each other, and why the sequence matters more here than in a city where you can simply backtrack on a metro.

Field notesThe list

Riomaggiore's marina
The southernmost of the five villages and the natural starting point if you're coming from La Spezia, with a narrow stone ramp dropping to a tiny boat-crammed cove between tall, brightly painted houses.

Why it's on this list It's the trailhead for the Via dell'Amore heading north, and the closest village to the La Spezia rail hub, which makes it the logical first stop rather than a detour from somewhere else.

Tip:See the marina properly in the morning before the trail traffic builds, then plan to come back after dark on a later day — it's a genuinely different, better scene once the day-trippers have gone.
Via dell'Amore
The short, cliff-hugging path between Riomaggiore and Manarola, carved into the rock face above the sea — the most famous and easiest stretch of the whole trail network, and the connective tissue between the first two stops on this route.

Why it's on this list It's the literal link between Riomaggiore and Manarola, so walking it isn't an optional detour — it's how you get from the first village to the second one on foot rather than by train.

Tip:Buy the separate ticket online ahead in peak season; daily capacity is capped and the walk-up line at the Riomaggiore end can cost you twenty minutes you'd rather spend at the other end.
Manarola's sunset rocks
The flat rocks just past Manarola's harbour, where the Via dell'Amore delivers you directly into the village's one unmissable view — the stacked pastel houses catching the evening light.

Why it's on this list Arriving here on foot from Riomaggiore means you reach Manarola already facing the right direction for the sunset view, rather than having to double back through the village to find it.

Tip:If your timing allows it, hold this stop for late afternoon rather than midday — arrive thirty minutes before sunset to actually claim a seat on the rocks.
Corniglia's clifftop centre
The only one of the five villages built above the water rather than on it, reached by a long switchback stairway from the station — a deliberate change of pace in the middle of the route, and the quietest of the five.

Why it's on this list It's the midpoint of the walk and the obvious place to break for lunch, both because of its position between Manarola and Vernazza and because its elevation and relative quiet make it a natural pause rather than a photo-stop-and-go.

Tip:Climb the stairs on the way up instead of taking the shuttle at least once — the views back down the coast are the best reward for the extra effort on this whole route.
Vernazza harbour & Doria Castle
The horseshoe-shaped harbour that's the single most photographed frame in Liguria, watched over by the ruined medieval castle on the headland above — the midway high point of the route, and the one most worth timing carefully.

Why it's on this list It sits almost exactly between Corniglia and Monterosso, making it the natural second half of the day, and its midday crowds are the most predictable reason to adjust your overall start time on this route.

Tip:If you're walking this sequence in one day, aim to hit Vernazza either early (before the first train groups arrive) or late (near sunset, when the castle terrace view over the harbour roofs is at its best) rather than in the crowded middle of the day.
Monterosso al Mare beach
The largest, flattest village and the only one with proper sandy beaches — the natural endpoint of a south-to-north walk, where you can finally sit down and swim after four villages of stairs.

Why it's on this list It's the logical finish line: the flattest terrain, the easiest train and road connections back out, and a beach that rewards the effort of everything that came before it with an actual place to stop moving.

Tip:Head to the free public stretch at the beach's eastern end if you're arriving tired and want space quickly, or the quieter rocks past the headland if the main beach is already full by the time you get there.

Tickets & tours Stay nearby

Before you goCommon questions

What's the best order to walk Cinque Terre's five villages?: South to north — Riomaggiore, then the Via dell'Amore to Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and finishing at Monterosso al Mare — works well because it ends at the only village with a proper beach, which rewards the walking with somewhere to actually stop and swim. It works equally well in reverse; the choice is mostly about whether you want to start your day at a beach town or a nightlife one.
Can you walk between all five villages in one day?: It's possible but ambitious — the full Sentiero Azzurro coastal trail covers roughly nine kilometres with real elevation change, and trail sections do periodically close after rain or rockfall. Most visitors either walk two or three connected sections and take the train for the rest, or spread the full sequence across two days.
Do you need the Via dell'Amore ticket if you're doing the whole walk?: Yes — it's a separate ticket from the Cinque Terre Card, sold at both the Riomaggiore and Manarola ends, with capped daily capacity. Buy it online ahead in peak season rather than risking a sold-out day or a long walk-up queue.
Which village should you save for last?: Monterosso al Mare if you're walking south to north, since it's the flattest and has the only real beaches — a good place to end a walking day rather than start one. If you're going the other direction, Riomaggiore's marina after dark is the strongest finish, since it's a genuinely different and better scene once the day-trip crowds have cleared out.
Is Corniglia worth the detour given it's not directly on the water?: Yes, precisely because of that — it's the quietest of the five villages and a natural, unhurried midpoint between the busier stops on either side. The climb up from the station is real, but the views back down the coast make it one of the more memorable stretches of the whole route.