We’ve had our share of clients with impressive resumes — former CEOs of Big Three automakers, members of the Federal Reserve Board — but recently we found ourselves with an unexpected type of VIP: real, honest-to-goodness Italian nobility. We certainly didn’t know this ahead of time, though if we had […]
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And one day, just as quick as the blink of an eye, you wake up and find nobody surrounding you in Vernazza, in Manarola. You can find parking places everywhere, and they are all free of charge. You walk around without bumping into selfie sticks, shorts that are way too […]
This year, we are teaming up with Marco Scaramuccia of Pequod Boat Tours in Levanto to offer daily sunset boat tours of the stupendous Levanto coastline. This summer season, the Pequod will sail every evening for a once-in-a-lifetime boat tour. The coastline around Levanto is unmatchable and pristine, the waters crystal clear, […]
We’re doing some reconnaissance work this January, checking on the conditions of the lesser-used trails in the Cinque Terre, and yesterday we were on the glorious Levanto-Monterosso trail, a real gem of the Cinque Terre National Park (and free to boot!). [This post is not about the trail, but FYI, […]
Some essential advice about what to do if you are taking a train in the Cinque Terre: Use the entire platform. If everyone spread out the entire length of the platform, the clog of people getting on and off at peak hours would be lessened. This means standing well into […]
Everyone knows that traveling by train in the Cinque Terre can be a nightmare. Way too many people, tiny stations with short platforms, irregular train schedules. Last season (2015) — in our own opinion as guides — the train service was a bit improved from previous years, but it was still […]
We think a lot about the question of sustainability in the Cinque Terre. In part, it’s a professional concern: we run study abroad programs on the subject, as well as alumni trips that use sustainability as a focal point. But in part, it’s just a logical concern for anyone living […]
Punta Mesco, the imposing treeless rock that juts up out of the Mediterranean and marks the northwest boundary of the Cinque Terre, is actually fifty percent within the confines of Levanto. But since you can’t actually see it from Levanto unless you are in a boat, it’s probably fair that […]
It took us four years, but we finally made it up to the summit of Monte Rossola this past weekend. Ever since our trusted boat captain Marco told us about the views from up top in 2011, we have wanted to go, but between the kids and the job and […]
The Via dell’Amore — the most famous part of the Cinque Terre — was closed in September 2012 because of a rock slide. Since then, we have watched countless tourists arrive in one of the two towns the walkway used to connect (Riomaggiore and Manarola), stop speechless in front of the […]