Another beautiful morning in the Cinque Terre… Another espresso on the balcony… Another breathtaking view overlooking the town and sea… I could get used to this life. 

But today we had to get moving before noon. We needed to catch the first ferry to Porto Venere. And by first ferry, I mean like 10 am. haha.

Porto Venere is just south of the Cinque Terre and there are a couple of ways to get there. You can hike, but that would take all day. You could take a train to La Spezia and then take a bus to Porto Venere, but that seemed like too much of a hassle. But the easiest most scenic route and the one that we took was by a ferry. I was eager to see all the little towns from the sea. 

I was hypnotized by the views of the cliffs and green hillsides dotted with tiny houses. I was lost in wonder how beautiful it must be to live here but how hard it must be to run power lines to the random houses away from the towns. And do they all have cars? I couldn’t pick out roads or driveways to some of the remote buildings.

The green hills became rockier as we sailed down the coast, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a chapel emerged from the cliff. I was absolutely in love with how it seems to be part of the rock itself. 

The ferry rounded the corner and chapel, and  Porto Venere came into view. It had the same colorful houses that we had become accustomed to, but they weren’t stacked on top of each other. Porto Venere is a bigger and flatter town than you’d find in the Cinque Terre, but it still had a lot of the same charm. 

As we got off the ferry, we were provided with two options. We could walk up through the narrow alleys of the town and up towards the fort at the top, or we could walk along the harbor and over towards the chapel. I was enthralled by the chapel, so we opted for the harborside walk. 

We made it maybe 100 feet down the sidewalk and then stopped for an espresso and cappuccino. All of the relaxing and sleeping-in was starting to a toll on us, and we needed caffeine. Plus, who can resist an Italian espresso? So smooth yet so bold. I was addicted. 

Side note: An espresso and access to a clean cafe toilet is roughly the same cost as a dirty public toilet. 

As we approached the chapel, the views became more and more amazing. I still cannot wrap my mind around how absolutely stunning the water was. There couldn’t be a more perfect shade of blue, and the sun was sparkling off every little ripple. 

Right before the chapel, we started getting little glimpses of the coast to the north. The water was a deeper blue, and the scenery had transitioned from a busy harbor into the untouched sea. 

The chapel was still calling my name, but we couldn’t resist the urge to scramble down the rocks to dip our feet in the clear water.  One thing led to another, and we found ourselves sneakily changing into our swimsuits behind a large rock and praying that no one could see us. And then we jumped in. It was such an amazing setting with old fort ruins on the top of the cliff to one side, an old chapel behind us, and the crystal clear blue sea teeming with colorful fish stretching out before us. It felt like we had found a secret swimming spot. Only a handful of people peaked over the edge of the path and joined us. 

After swimming and lazing about on the rocks, we decided we should probably change back into clothes and climb back up to the path. 

And then we finally made our way to the chapel. We had several detours on our way, but we made it. It was the cutest little chapel ever and had sweeping views of the sea. 

The other main tourist spot in town was the fort. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing it as I had read that it wasn’t worth the climb up. There was even an entrance fee but nothing to see inside. Still, we wanted to see the panorama for the top of the hill, so we made our way up to the fort. You don’t have to pay for the views. There is a sprawling park just before you get to the entrance, and this was totally worth the walk up. The panorama from the top captured the essence of Porto Venere. Most people probably think of the town with colorful houses and quaint cafes, but I think of the brilliant blue sea, cliffs, and that perfect little chapel. 

Excuse the hair in the picture. I was a hot mess after swimming.  

The way up to the fort was a rather leisurely and meandering incline (compared to what we were now used to), but we found a more direct path leading back into town. Just stairs. All the way down. I’m glad we didn’t come up this way! 

And at the bottom of the stairs? A gelato shop! Yessss. It was just what we needed to cool off. 

Then it was time to catch the ferry back to the Cinque Terre. We lucked out and grabbed a spot at the back of the boat. It is impossible to get tired of the views and the sea. I could stare at it forever.

We thought about going back to Manarola and having a leisurely evening swimming and dining, but we decided to get off the ferry at Riomaggiore (the stop right before Manarola). We were afraid if we didn’t see Riomaggiore now, we wouldn’t get a chance. Of the 5 towns, it is probably the most similar to Manarola, but it is larger and it feels a bit rugged. Not in a bad way though. I didn’t feel unsafe. It just didn’t feel as polished or gentle as Manarola. 

One thing that Riomaggiore is known for is that it has the best fried seafood cones in all of the Cinque Terre. We chose a variety of seafood and added a few veggies (veggies make everything healthy, right?). It was fried to perfection. Light and crispy and not greasy at all. And top it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Mmmm mmmm.

After re-energizing from our seafood snack, we walked up to the top of the town for some views. There was so much texture and color that I wished I was an artist. I could have stayed there forever painting all the little details. There weren’t very many tourists up here. Maybe because it was approaching evening? Maybe they all stay near the harbor? I think they missed out, but it made the experience better for us. It was so peaceful with birds chirping and the soft chatter of friends strolling by. 

It was getting close to sunset by this point, so we decided to head to a bar Nisheet had read about. It was situated right on a cliff, so it had the perfect sunset viewing opportunity. It is a seat yourself type of place, and all the good tables were taken, of course. But right as we were sitting down, an edge table opened up. Wohoo! 

Nisheet ordered Sciacchetrà, a specialty wine produced in the Cinque Terre, and tried to get me to order one too telling me it was thick and sweet. Uhhh… no thanks. I stuck to my standard drink for the honeymoon, an Aperol Spritz. My drink we perfect. The bright orange matched the color of the sunset, it had the right combination of bitterness and sweetness, and I was in heaven. And then I tried Nisheet’s Sciacchetrà that had been served with a slice of salty Italian cheese. OMG. It was phenomenal. Sure it was sweet and syrupy, but for some reason it worked. It had hints of honey, citrus, and flower blossoms. And the saltiness of the cheese made for the perfect balance. I was so impressed that after having it here, we were in the hunt for the best bottle to bring back as a souvenir. 

Since the Sciacchetrà was so amazing, we decided to try another specialty. Grappa. If Sciacchetrà was a 10, then Gappa was a 1. It doesn’t get a 0 rating simply because I didn’t die from drinking it. We hurriedly ordered a bottle of house red wine to wipe away the memory and taste 🙂

We stayed at the bar for several more hours just chatting and taking in the small-town Italian atmosphere. And then we finally decided we should go back to our apartment before the train stopped running for the night. The ferry had stopped running hours ago, and we didn’t want to hike back in the dark.

While at the train station, we met an older couple. They were on their 30th (I think?) wedding anniversary and gave us all sorts of tips on how to have a happy marriage. The most important piece of advice? “Know when to walk away.” The train came right then, we thanked them for their advice, wished them a happy vacation, and boarded separate cars for our 5 minute ride to Manarola. When we got off the train in Manarola, they came running up to us. “We meant walk away to cool off! Don’t walk away from your marriage!” Lol