Today, we headed to the remaining two Cinque Terre towns: Riomaggiore and Manarola. In Riomaggiore, we once again got lost while following the walking tour directions. By the time we realized we were lost, we had gone about halfway through the tour in the reverse direction, so we continued through in reverse order. Sadly, this meant we had to walk uphill most of the way instead of downhill.

Most of the Cinque Terre towns have small rivers running through them. However, it is often hard to notice since the rivers were paved over after WWII and turned into sewer systems. In Manarola, the river runs right underneath the main street and you can hear it flowing underneath your feet. Amazingly, we didn’t get lost on the Manarola walking tour. I really liked the Manarola walking tour, which includes a slightly strenuous hike through a hillside vineyard and beautiful views of the town and sea.

Along with Interlaken, Cinque Terre is one of my favorite destinations of this trip. The towns are easily accessible by train. There are very few cars. The restaurants are tourist friendly. The food is good. And the atmosphere is relaxed.