Cinque Terre: Riomaggiore, Italy

When we @travelingstories made our first post of Cinque Terre, in Italy, we said we would be back for more… We’re here today to keep our word 😊

We’ve been to Cinque Terre in September 2016, on our trip throughout North Italy and Malta. As we were staying in Firenze (Florence), we caught a train very early in the morning to reach La Spezia, a town at about 2 hours by from one of the most beautiful Italian cities we know (sometimes a change in Pisa is required, depending on the train service).

After arriving at La Spezia train station, we needed to change again, but this time to a regional train that stops in every “Terre” of Cinque Terre, heading to Genoa.

At the train station, there’s a lot of info about visiting Cinque Terre and one thing we particularly liked was the fact that there was (at that time) no tourist tax to visit the “Terres”. And that happened because on our research we read that, due to the increase on the number of tourists, the region was applying that tax… We don’t know if it is happening now, or if it just happens in August, but do some research and we’re sure you’ll find out pretty quick 😊

The only thing we payed was for a Cinque Terre card, which gave us access to trains of this region for a day and begun our journey right away: there was a lot to see and the clock doesn’t stop!

Our first stop was Riomaggiore, one of the loveliest of the five Terres and the one closest to La Spezia.

The first we noticed about this place was that, because of the terrain characteristics (a lot of mountains around, near the sea), the train station was inside a tunnel…

And side by side with the sea…

Outside the station, the magic starts to unveil… Incredible and colorufull buildings, surrounding steep streets filled with local shops and restaurants… What an amazing place!

As we climbed to the top of this village of Riomaggiore, we got astonished with the beauty of the view over the hills and the sea…

After climbing up and admiring the view from up there, it was time to climb back down, throughout the labyrinthic streets to reach the sea… After all, it was time to catch a boat to the next Terre 😊

Well, but not before admiring the seaside…

And the colors of Riomaggiore 😊

Regarding the boat trip, it was our decision to do it, since we could admire the region from the sea. Also, we needed to get back to La Spezia at the end of the day, so we could catch a train back to Firenze.

You don’t have to, if you chose to by the train ticket for the day, but it’s always a good experience (not as good as [the one from Zakynthos, though}(https://steemit.com/travel/@travelingstories/amazing-experiences-boat-trip-around-zakynthos-part-4))!

Hope you enjoyed this post and that you upvote and resteem it, as well as you come back for more! 😊