Life & Style | Travel
Italy without a hitch
Daytrippers can throng the streets in the summer but they disappear come the evening -- go slightly off-season and you'll have the place to yourself.
- By Richard Godwin, Evening Standard
- Published: 23:47 January 9, 2009
- Enchanting country
- Image Credit: Supplied Photo
Cinque Terre, or the five lands, are five small, pastel-coloured fishing villages that are chiselled precariously into the rocks on the Ligurian coast in the north-west of Italy.
They lay no great claims on history the improbable coming of the railway in the thirties, bored through the cliffs, was the most notable recent event here.
But their steep, narrow streets are suited to nothing much happening. It is as if when, in the 13th century, fishermen decided to settle here, paint the houses pink and yellow and lay out the little squares just so, they had half an eye on pleasing future tourists.
Yet though it is well known among Italians, Germans and French, you will hear few English accents here. What's more, the villages are accessible only by rail or boat.
Daytrippers can throng the streets in the summer but they disappear come the evening go slightly off-season and you'll have the place to yourself.
The lack of roads seems to put many people off but as I don't drive, it only endeared me to Cinque Terre as I planned my honeymoon.
Trains without pain
Yes, a honeymoon is like a normal holiday but with the ever-present idea that this must be more romantic and hassle-free than any you have previously spent.
I chose Cinque Terre precisely because it condemned all motorists to share my fate, and I just had to hope that our second stop, Greve-in-Chianti, would not pose too much of a problem.
As rarely happens, my planning worked. The three trains we had to take from Pisa airport to Vernazza, where we were staying, arrived as if choreographed by Mussolini.
As we were still sleepy from the exertions of the wedding three days previously, the journey passed by as a pleasant dream. We picked up the key to our apartment in the main (ie only) square and repaired for a siesta.
There is a central website for Cinque Terre (www.cinqueterre.it), where private rooms can be booked without fuss. Ours was fine white, as these places should be, with splashes of primary colours.
Irritatingly, though, it had no working cooker an annoyance which only increased each time I walked past the fishmonger's a few doors down and reflected that I would never be able to cook his splendid-looking wares.
Easy village-hopping
Once settled in, the Cinque Terre itinerary is easy to get the hang of. Trains run frequently between the five villages, and there is coastal walking between them on the old donkey trails buying a Cinque Terre card permits you to do both.
So, from Vernazza, you might get a train to Riomaggiore for a lunch of fresh anchovies followed by swordfish, then wend your way back to your accommodation via the other villages.
More serious hikers will venture inland, where the paths become wilder.
Riomaggiore to Manorolo, the first trek, is the easiest and shortest. Rather cheesily, it's called the Via dell'Amore, the Lovers' Lane but they must have had lovers of crowds and graffiti in mind.
Happily, every one of the other routes makes up for its disappointments. You are given just reward for your exertions: dramatically receding cliffs, clear sea (paths going down to secluded beaches) and a mix of pines, vines and prickly pears by way of foliage.
Vernazza itself is the prettiest of the villages, the main square bright and simple with an austere church in one corner and a natural harbour along one side, with a small beach.
But Monterosso, the most northerly of the villages, has the most to offer the longest beach and the most interesting restaurants.
We found a sophisticated but unpretentious enoteca there and sipped fragrant, floral glasses of the local white, Cinque Terre DOC, and Moscato d'Asti outside.
I chose our second destination, the working Fattoria Viticcio vineyard near Greve, in the heart of Tuscan wine country, with our lack of car firmly in mind.
To reach Greve from Vernazza involved a train back to Pisa, another to Florence and a bus, and again, I was gratified by their punctuality, cheapness and ease.
A real flavour of Italy
Alessandro, the genial winemaker, picked us up from the main square in Greve and drove us to his home, which offers six apartments.
Once settled, it was a 20-minute walk or a five-minute cycle into town; so being senza machina was no big deal we had mellow rural isolation within easy reach of amenities.
Tuscany is a romantic cliché, but offers everything you want it to. In our roomy apartment surrounded by sangiovese vines, I was able finally to cook the meals I had dreamed of in Vernazza, prepared with beautiful produce bought in Greve and figs, peaches and fresh herbs picked on the walk back.
We settled quickly into reading, swimming in the pool, eating and playing canasta, surely the perfect recipe for marital bliss.
Go there ... Cinque Terre ... From the UAE
Venice is the closest airport.
From Dubai
Emirates flies daily.
Fare from Dh4,440
Air France flies daily via Paris.
Fare from Dh4,300
— Information courtesy: The Holiday Lounge by Dnata. Ph: 04 4298576
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