Cinque Terre: a first-timer’s guide to Italy's iconic coastal villages

So pretty that it inspired 2021's Disney movie Luca, Cinque Terre ("five lands") consists of five startlingly photogenic fishing villages on Italy's northwest coast, their candy-colored houses stacked down the sides of ravines and on top of cliffs. With great food and wine, jaw-dropping sea views and photo opportunities at every turn, this is everything people love about Italy.

Today, however, that beauty is also its curse – it's one of the most overtouristed parts of the Bel Paese (the beautiful country), with thousands of daytrippers crowding into the narrow streets, eager to take a couple of quick shots for the 'Gram and then leave. Is Cinque Terre overcrowded? Absolutely. Does that limit your enjoyment? Not if you take your time. Most people day-trip around the five villages, but stay longer – even three or four days – and you'll get a real appreciation of this extraordinary landscape.

One of the most remote parts of Italy – the single road arrived in the 1960s, and the railway a century earlier – Cinque Terre has always been a place of visceral beauty. Look up beyond those colored houses: for over 1000 years, the residents have terraced the cliff sides and cultivated olives and wine that were once the toast of Europe's top tables.

Today, the entire area is a national park that celebrates human ingenuity as well as Mother Nature, with around 120km (75 miles) of footpaths allowing you to explore it in the raw. But as well as a place to walk, this is also a place to relax. Watch the waves beat against the rocks from one of the medieval castles scattered along the coast – a hallmark of Liguria, the wider region. Drink a glass of wine cultivated on those very cliffs. Watch the colors of the setting sun light the sea aflame. And rejoice that you chose more than a day trip.

This first-time guide to Cinque Terre shows you how to make the best of your trip to this bucket-list Italian destination.