Recommended
by CinqueTerre.com

Best Italian destinations to combine to your trip to Liguria


If you love Italy and you have already visited the most famous must sees, you are probably looking for some new destination, that allows you to enjoy the real Italian lifestyle, to see beautiful and less crowded places, to taste traditional recipes, meet local people and hear their stories. Liguria is a perfect destination for all of this, with its fishing villages, country hamlets and the amazing coast with beautiful sandy beaches and secluded coves, not to mention hidden pearls like Genoa with its authentic medieval historical center rich in contrasts, with noble painted palaces (read more here about the Rolli Palaces) next to incredible centuries old shops (discover more here). Manarola is an icon of Cinque Terre But Liguria is also a perfect base to visit other Italian regions, so that Cinque Terre, Portofino and Genoa can be combined with other beautiful destinations that you can reach in a maximum of 2 hours. LIGURIA AND PIEDMONT In a few time you can reach the Barolo and Langhe area, famous for its castles, wines, cheese and truffles. Rolling hills and medieval villages: Alba, with its towers will fascinate you, Barolo, Barbaresco, Serralunga and more with amazing ancient castles. Piedmont and Langhe rolling hills are close to Liguria This is the area where Slow Food was born and it is the perfect set for a gourmet trip. You will discover untouched places listed in the Unesco World Heritage sites and here you can meet local small producers. Don’t miss to taste the famous cheeses and hazelnuts (did you know that the famous hazelnuts and chocolate cream Nutella was born here?). Hazelnuts are a typical ingredient of many traditional recipes from Piedmont Not to speak about wine! If you travel to Liguria and Piedmont, you should taste and compare the precious Cinque Terre Sciacchetrà or the Ligurian white wines with the famous Piedmont red wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco (yes they have the same name of the villages you will visit). Spectacular hiking among the vineyards of Piedmont rolling hills If you love hiking, Liguria and Piedmont should be your dream destinations: from the steep coast of Cinque Terre, with its trails suspended between sea and sky, to the rolling hills covered with vineyards and hazelnut trees in Piedmont. Each path will give you new emotions arriving to a small cellar or a medieval castle. LIGURIA AND TUSCANY Tuscany needs no presentation and is just next to Liguria, particularly to the Cinque Terre area. If you are staying in Cinque Terre you can also do a day trip to take a look to the famous Pisa leaning tower or, and I strongly recommend it, drive 1 hour and discover the beautiful fortified town of Lucca with its 100 churches and beautiful Renaissance noble villas. Lucca is just one hour drive from Cinque Terre If you want to continue your trip, and you have already visited Florence, you can go on to the Siena area. Here the beautiful Val d’Orcia is waiting for you with its naked hills with lone cypress trees, just as medieval painters and modern photographers have represented it. You shouldn’t miss to visit Siena with its cathedral, just restored, and the beautiful towns of Pienza and Montepulciano. It will be a fascinating contrast to compare the colored cluster of houses of Cinque Terre fishing villages with the severe perfection of these towns designed by Renaissance architects. Don’t miss Montepulciano if you go to Tuscany If you are a food lover, this is a paradise for you: Pienza is famous for its Pecorino Cheese and what about learning from an expert local chef to prepare the most famous recipes of the Tuscan tradition? You will discover if you prefer the typical Tuscan bread or the Ligurian Focaccia! Of course, Tuscany is also a land of great wines and I’m sure you will find many occasions to taste them. Enjoy a wine tasting of great Tuscan wines Not so greedy? You can always choose to relax in one of the many thermal places scattered around the region that is reach in natural healing waters. Do you want to relax? Try one of the many thermal pools in Tuscany Do they look to you as if they were different words? No, it is just the marvelous diversity of each Italian region and it is possible to taste it all in one trip. Yes, I’m telling the truth. No rush, no queues, no big groups, just the real soul of places you’ll visit. How much time you need? 8 days are enough. Can’t wait to try in person? Check-out our special trips: Liguria and Piedmont Culinary Tour and Cinque Terre and Tuscany Lifestyle.

Travel
with Ease

The train, surely the best means of travel to visit the Cinque Terre and be enchanted by the beauty of the Ligurian sea. From March 16th the 5 Terre Express train is in service to travel comfortably between La Spezia Centrale, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso and Levanto with a single single fare ticket, taking advantage of the offer of 100 trains a day, 7 days a week, every 15 minutes