The little harbour
Boats and coloured houses enclosing the water on three sides.
Bruno Rijsman — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Luca Casartelli — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Elisavans — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bruno Rijsman — CC BY-SA 2.0
**The loveliest of the Cinque Terre: a small natural harbour ringed by coloured houses, with a watchtower on the rock** — and the only one of the five with a real port. ⚠ **That is why it has its shape**: **the little bay is the only safe anchorage on this coast** — **so the village grew around it as an amphitheatre**, **the houses enclosing the water on three sides**. ✅ **Above it stands the Doria castle** with its 11th-century round tower — **built to watch for pirates**, ✅ **and climbable**. ⚠ **In October 2011 a mudslide overwhelmed the village** — **burying the main street under four metres of mud and killing people**; ✅ **and it was rebuilt at great effort**. ⚠ **And it is crowded to an unbearable degree** at peak.
Boats and coloured houses enclosing the water on three sides.
A round tower on the rock with a coastal view.
Low light on the coloured house fronts.
Vernazza, 19018 La Spezia, Italy
**Two different cards — one for the paths, one for paths plus the train; the choice depends on how much you will move.** ✅ **The first — the «Trekking Card»**: **covers entry to the charged walking paths** in the national park (⚠ **some paths charge and some are free**), **and some services**. ✅ **The second — the «Treno Card»**: **the first plus unlimited regional train travel** between **Levanto and La Spezia** and the five villages between, **for one, two or three days**. ✅ **⚠ When the train card pays**: **if you will make more than three or four journeys a day** — **which happens easily**, since visiting all five villages means at least five rides; ⚠ **compare it against the single-ticket price**. ⚠ **And if you are staying in one village and not walking the charged paths, you may need neither.** ⚠ **⚠ The train is very crowded at peak** — **you may stand**, **and the platforms fill**; ✅ **but the ride is very short (3–5 minutes between villages)**. ⚠ **⚠ Validate a single ticket before boarding** — **the fine is heavy**; ✅ **the card does not need daily validation, but write your name on it**. ⚠ **Check current prices — they change yearly.**
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