Cinque Terre being one of the most famous places in Italy has been visited, talked, reviewed million times in different platforms. I was shy to admit that after living in Italy for more than two years, I hadn’t visited this enchanted place. But this October things had been changed! Thanks to my girl Iris, who came to visit me from Shanghai, I was dragged on a trip to Cinque Terre in the early fall! It has been a while for me to travel solo with my girlfriend, and enjoy being a tourist in another place.

Our 2-day Cinque Terre tour started outside Cinque Terre though. We arrived early afternoon in La Spezia, then spent the first afternoon in a nearby town Portovenere.

We spent the full second day visiting the five towns. With the Cinque Terre ticket we started from La Spezia heading to furthest Monterosso, then visited south-wards one after the other.

One of the towns me and my friend we both liked a lot is Vernazza. Maybe because we arrived in late morning, when the weather and temperature were the best of the day, maybe we spent a while sitting in front of the sea, or maybe we fulfilled the duty of tourists, aka shop the local products, Vernazza was a place with happy memories.

Moving south-wards, after Corniglia we jumped over Manarola going directly to Riomaggiore. Because we wanted to save Manarola, the most beautiful one, for the sunset. The light 1 hour before sunset is the golden light for photographs. That’s why we came back to Manarola around 5pm. We saw Manarola with a golden view under the golden light.

My Audrey Hepburn enjoying a gelato in Corniglia.

The most frequently photographed village among Cinque Terre: Manarola! I feel lucky to be there in the golden hour.