I’m trying to answer some questions such as what happens when a small destination called Cinque Terre in Italy gets promoted by Rick Steves and other guidebooks and years later, millions of people visit. Including me. What happens to the place and to the visitors and is it still worthy?
Yet I visited the Cinque Terre myself last year, with trepidation. Being a solo traveler who tries to think of himself as not an average tourist, I try not to go where the crowd goes, unless it’s a truly grand destination. Yes, the crowds go to London, Paris, and Tokyo, but there are fine, fine reasons to go there. They go to the British museum, to the Louvre, and to Shinjuku, but there are fine, fine reasons. You must accept crowds if you go there.
But some destinations seriously make one wonder if everyone is going there just because it’s famous, and is it better to go someplace nearby but different. I felt that way about destinations such as Santorini, Greece, where I had a fine time but not sure it’s truly worth it (read that post here). You won’t be sorry if you go there, but I would steer people elsewhere.
Thus, my last blog post was about how I’m getting ready for the Cinque Terre, one stop among many in my trip to Italy of course (read that post here), and now this post is the follow-up, after the trip. How was it?
The short answer: Here also, I would steer people elsewhere. Very similar to Santorini. Nothing is bad, but it may not be what you want in Italian travel.
Time to accept the inevitable: Cinque Terre is now a tourist destination first, Italy second. Various places around the world experience this. Italy’s Alfami coast must be the same. Cancun. Mykonos. Yes, they still have so many aspects of their home culture, and the food is terrific, and they’re beautiful, but they exist for the tourists now. Popular places are often popular for a reason, but then again, McDonald’s is popular. Las Vegas is popular.
Background story, if needed: The Cinque Terre were largely unknown back in the 1980s, but guidebook writer and later television personality Rick Steves somehow found them, and put them in his original guidebook “Europe through the Back Door” and beyond. Fast forward decades, and every year millions of people now visit these tiny five villages, their combined population perhaps 4,000. Rick now has a dedicated guidebook just to these five villages, so popular are they. I went into detail on the last post about What the Hell was Rick thinking?, so I’ll stop with more diatribe here about the way he steered hundreds of thousands of people to these tiny, tiny villages that cannot handle those types of crowds.
I joined a Facebook group called “Cinque Terre Italia” and it has 161,600 members as I write this, amazing. People there ask questions about where to stay and how the trains work and some questions are quite comical. I’ll just speak in general terms about the effect Rick, and of course other tourism in general, had on the crowds, the development, the price. But let’s start with the place itself.
Yes, it’s beautiful, just like the Alfami coast and other popular, crowded destinations, in that it’s popular and crowded for a reason. It’s impossibly picturesque, and you just can’t be, won’t be, disappointed in the views. Your photos will look fab, impress your friends, and get likes, because of course.
But it’s a tourist place, crowded and somewhat expensive, not the small-town Italy anymore at all. We need to face this, and the effect on the place. Start with a place to stay, as the areas don’t have lots of natural places for tourists, such as hotels or restaurants. People have thus created them, which is why most places to stay are like an Airbnb, not a regular hotel, which hardly exist there. I’ve seen questions about resorts here, with elevators and pools, and people just laugh. It’s not at all that type of place, in a good way, but people have turned their regular domiciles into rentable spaces, so you’ll likely find your bed for the night by threading through other residential spaces. Your hotel will often not look like a canonical hotel.
This means any space where people live is probably more profitable renting out to visitors like you and me, so though you’re staying in what looks like a local neighborhood may be now turned into a large block of Airbnbs. New construction is limited in the five towns, by laws and by landscape, so no large Marriotts there, and certainly no resorts. This is quite fine, as I don’t want a Marriot and I like staying in a crowded neighborhood feeling like I’m sleeping among the locals even if everyone next to me is a visitor too. Yet it certainly is contributing to the increasing practice of popular places of crowding out the locals because everyone there is renting out their place, and outsiders are trying to buy up everything they can rent out.
If you’re staying in a village, don’t at all be fussy about accommodation. Don’t look for the cutest Airbnb and don’t insist on amenities such as elevators (nonexistent) or pools (same). Just get a place to crash that maybe, maybe, has a view of the sea. I would not pay extra for that, but you do you.
Rick is quite adamant that you should stay in one of the towns; don’t stay nearby and day-trip in. You need the after-hours or the before-hours of the place, outside of the crowd rush daylight hours. I mostly agree—if you’re doing it, then do it. But of course others disagree. La Spezia just to the south offers much more reasonable hotel rates and certainly more eateries and after-dark options than any of the towns. Levanto to the north seems more charming and less gritty. I don’t know if either has any atmosphere at all, but hard to imagine they’re terrible. Plus, you can hang in one of the CT towns until somewhat late and then just train back to your hotel, no sweat. Travel is always a trade-off atween location and price; no difference here.
Everyone has questions on which town to base themselves, and I’m not sure it matters much. I stayed in Riomaggiore, the second-largest village (though still tiny) and it was fine. None of the towns have much atmosphere either, nor any real nightlife. I would not stay in the middle village Corniglia, as it’s the smallest and you must hike up and down to go to/from the train station, but of course some people like it. No strong opinion here.
I saw Rick on some special where he’s mobbed by locals in CT trying to get their lodging places into his guidebook. They wait outside where he’s staying for him to pass by, pressing cards into his hands and asking “Won’t you come see my place?” And he can’t. They have certain standards anyone must meet, not high like five-stars, but not a basic pensione, and they can’t check out every place.
Transportation
Forget about driving; train is the only way to go. One cannot easily drive between the towns; you always must go inland a ways and then back down to the coast. There’s hardly anywhere to park. Almost no taxis. The train connects the five villages with each other and points north and south, and acts like a subway line between the five, as they’re all only a few minutes apart.
But damn, it’s an expensive subway, and doesn’t run so frequently. There are times when it’s a half an hour or more between trains and it uses dynamic pricing, according to the time of year, basically high, shoulder, and low season. High season, which included the time I was there (late May) was €10 per trip, even if you’ve just going to the next village, again just a few minutes away. I’ve seen many questions online as to how to get around this, as for a family of four to travel between villages, that’s €40 each trip. I think that’s almost criminal.
You can, and probably should, get a daily pass, but I was there on a weekend, couldn’t work my schedule out any other way, and thus the pass was €32 a day, yikes. That costs more than a week’s pass for New York City. Plus, there are local and express trains, probably easy for natives to distinguish, but I didn’t know the difference. Some stop at every village, some skip them and go to the ending towns, so you’ll have to backtrack. If you ride without a ticket and are caught (they do check) the fine is steep, and you will not talk your way out of it. The train simply gave me a bad vibe.
As for eating there, thank gods it’s still Italy, and so you’ll eat quite well. Prices are a bit higher, but not terrible, and are to be expected. Quality is quite high. Tourist-friendly fare like pizza abounds, especially take-away foods like cones of fried fish. Gelato and other desserts are everywhere. I can’t complain at all about the food, except that the popular restaurants are truly quite popular and you should consider reservations.
Consider one restaurant called Nessu Dorum, in the village of Manarola, which has a wildly popular pesto-making class, which everyone seems to love. It’s so popular that it has its own app, so that you can put your name on the waiting list through your phone.
Eat inland. Every 20 meters you go inland from the sea, your chance of getting a table increases. Many exceptions, but places with a view of the sea are iffy. CT is not a foodie destination, quite at all, but with some decent planning, you’ll do well. Don’t ask about places where the locals eat—there are no local places anymore. Furthermore, the local wine isn’t all that. You should try it, but don’t expect much.
What To Do
Besides the tourist effect, the main point I would drive home about CT is there isn’t much to do. Even wandering through the tiny villages enjoying the vibe doesn’t take long, as they’re quite small. It’s a place where you need to slow down and enjoy hanging out in a square, by the rocks perhaps, for some time. On the Facebook group, people are constantly asking if two, or three, or four days is enough and the answer is always “yes”. Honestly, one day is enough; you should move on to Genova or Florence instead. They’re better.
I’m sure Rick and others would say that’s the point of CT, that there’s not much to do—that it’s a place to relax and just sit in a square and soak up Italy. Except again, it’s not really Italy anymore; it’s truly a tourist zone now. No museums, famous churches. There really are no sights. That’s probably why the pesto-making class was invented, along with a few other tours.
Google “what to do” there and the mentions will be simply to visit all five towns, wandering and exploring them, decent enough, though of course none are very large. The other thing everyone mentions are the hikes. Hiking between the villages is a wildly popular activity and people will discuss which routes are the best.
A hike and a walk are different. Going on foot between the villages is hiking, not walking. They’re not strolls along a paved path; they are up and downs over rocks and dirt. There’s almost no shade. Anyone in near-decent shape can handle them, but they’re not nothing. It’s at least an hour between each village if you’re moving, or more if you’re ambling. Much discussion about which hike, and in which direction, is the best (Corniglia to Vernazza seems good). If this is your plan, do some research. If you set off anytime except early morning, the trail can be jammed with people moving both directions.
Note that landslides and other acts of nature are common and can affect or close the trails. If you’re going there to hike, you are taking a chance, and you’ll want a Plan B. Get current info—not what someone posted online nine months ago. Many trails are not free. You’ll need a pass. The train pass I described above (Cinque Terre Treno MS Card) covers the train and the trails, or you can just buy a trekking card that covers only hiking, no trains, which (as I write this) is €7.5 a day low season, and €15 a day high season. For the one lower, flatter, and wildly popular Via dell’Amore trail, ach, you need an additional €10 timed reservation beyond anything else and you can only spend 30 minutes on the trail max, and oh screw that. Plus, it’s often closed.
The town of Manarola does have a neat, and free, little walk (not a hike) visible about halfway up the hills. Head to the back of the town (inland) and you’ll see a walkway up to it. it goes through vineyards and is short, but quite neat.
The Water
Being on the water is a main attraction of the area of course, but only one town, Monterosso, has a real beach, stretching quite far. Some parts are free and most (the parts with chairs) are not. Plenty of space usually in the free parts. For all other towns, except Corniglia which is not on the water, every single rock by the water that is decently flat will be covered with people during the season, sunbathing, splashing in the water, or just hanging loose.
A ferry boat system acts like the train, going between the towns (except poor Corniglia) and giving you a better view during the ride. Obviously, it’s much slower, much more crowded, and doesn’t run in rough weather. There are single tickets and day passes, each more expensive than the train. Many longer, more scenic private boat rides exist, for larger groups and private ones, quite expensive but I bet that’s a nice day.
The Crowds
Aye, here’s the rub. It’s simply too much to ask these tiny villages to absorb the visitors they receive. A tour group of only fifty people would crowd the main street of any of these villages. Unless you’re truly off-season, you won’t find many places that are not crowded; there’s no privacy or unused spaces. Cruise ship excursions and day-trippers from places like Pisa and Florence add to the crowds, and by the water, you won’t find many unused rocks or flat places. Anything that can be a beach is a beach.
If you must day-trip, don’t do a tour; you don’t need it. Just buy return train tickets, as what could a tour show you? There aren’t many sights to see. Plus, many of the guided tours, like one I read about through Viator, take the same train anyway; you just have a guide with you at the time. I guess the guide makes sure you don’t get on the wrong train, but you can probably handle that yourself. You can’t run tour buses through these towns. Tours from cruise ships are €100 and up.
You don’t need more than two days to see it all, and if you want to stay longer, consider a less-tourist destination instead to do your chilling. I found it quite hard to relax and enjoy any atmosphere. As Yogi Berra was reported to say, “No one goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.”
The crowds and tourism mean lots of folks understand some English, but please try some Italian and learn how things work there. One night at dinner, the couple at the next table said to the waitress, “Okay, we’re going to keep it real simple and split a cheese pizza between us. Can we add some tomato slices to the top?” And I knew she wouldn’t grasp all that. And the waitress’s eyes flashed into the panic one gets when you’ve got to take care of these people but can’t understand them. They got their pizza (minus extra tomato) and then were shocked by the bill, as everywhere in Italy adds a coperta, basically a cover charge of a few euros. Per person. So their €10 pizza now costs about €15 total, and they were not happy.
So What?
Oh, you’ll probably like it fine, more than I. I have problems with crowds. In the Facebook group, people are constantly asking if two, or three, or four days is enough and the answer is always “yes”. Honestly, one day is enough; you should move on to Genova or Florence instead. They’re better. Still, it’s hard to find a negative opinion online about the place, and I certainly have looked. I may be one of a mere handful of dissenters.
As with many places in Italy such as Venice, don’t go in ultra-peak-season. I wouldn’t even dream of it. Plus it’s blazing hot and you’ll never get dinner reservations.
Over decades of traveling, I realize you can’t stop tourism. The lure of money and business is way too strong. And tourism will change a place. So many places in the world can make more money from tourists than by remaining off the beaten path. Globalization is a cat out of a bag and of course a place will change in fifty years, tourism or not. I should not be the judge of what is local culture, or what it should be.
Cinque Terre is still Italy. I can’t express how glad I am that you can still get great Italian food there and that it’s not full of hamburger joints now. Tourism means more gelato places and cute little tourist shops and that’s not terrible. My main beef is it’s way too crowded and especially too small to absorb all the visitors, and so it’s not for the Italians anymore, and that guidebook writers, all of them, should somehow consider that before directing millions of visitors there. And I don’t know what to do about that except try to raise some talking points, correct or not. Thanks for reading my rant.
(again, Part 1 of this investigation into the Rick Steves effect on the Cinque Terre, my pre-trip fears, can be read here)
