Traveling to Riomaggiore on a Budget

Riomaggiore- the perfect adventure for an adventurer or a lounger. Explore the sea-side wine region with a fun hike.

Background

Riomaggiore is one of the 5 little towns scattered along the beautiful Ligurian Sea coast. The entire area is called the Cinque Terre, which translates to 5 fingers. The Cinque Terre is known for its wine production, natural landscapes, and gorgeous cliff-side towns. Riomaggiore is conveniently located close to the larger city of La Spezia. It is by far the most lively of the 5 towns with a beautiful beach and plenty of places to eat and shop along Via Colombo. It is also the town with the most accommodations. We ultimately decided to stay in Riomaggiore because it is had the cheapest accommodation.

Caitlyn and I visited Riomaggiore in mid-august, the busiest time of the year to visit the Cinque Terre. This was an initial concern of ours. If you decide to go here during the summer, I recommend following my recommendations quite closely, as we did everything we could to get away from the crowds (and prices)!

Recommended things to do

Hike between the 5 towns

 If you like a challenging, but rewarding hike, the Riomaggiore to Monterosso hike is a necessity for your trip. The nice part about the hike is that you can start anywhere you want to! It takes you through all 5 towns. Depending on the day you are planning to visit, the ferries run almost non-stop during daylight hours between the 5 towns. Since we stayed in Riomaggiore, the furthest southern town, we set foot at 10am and reached Monterosso, the furthest town, at about 5:30pm. The elevation gain is a challenging 990m. It gets very hot in the summer, but there are water stations littered throughout the trail. I recommend that if it is taking you longer than expected, that you should hike to the closest town and take the ferry back to your town. This hike is also easy to get to if you are staying in Genoa, La Spezia, or other nearby cities. I recommend stopping in every town you can! Each one has its own feel to it. Stop for a sandwich or a coffee to immerse briefly before returning to the trial.

You can find the link to the specific hike here.

Hike to the top and bottom of each town

Since each town is positioned on a cliff, the views of the colorful buildings vary based on how you see them. The cliffs surrounding the towns are cool, but the real attraction here is the unique style of the homes and the colors that blend into the cliffs and the Mediterranean. Find every viewpoint! You will realize that you have never taken so many pictures of one place as you have here. Specifically Manarola, Riomaggiore, and Corniglia were our favorites.

If you are staying in Riomaggiore, the best views for sunset (most of the year) is at the Castello di Riomaggiore. Caitlyn and I hiked a pizza up here and sat at the benches overlooking the sea. This was one of the best moments of our trip and we recommend it to anyone seeking a romantic picnic spot.

Take a wine tour or tasting

The wine in this region is particularly interesting because they water their vineyards with Mediterranean Sea water. This gives the grapes a crisp flavor. The Cinque Terre has an extremely underrated wine reputation. If end up hiking between the towns, you will see plenty of vineyards particularly between Manarola and Corniglia.

Go swimming

We spent a lot of our time cooling off at the Spiaggia di Riomaggiore. It is not a huge beach, and because it is a free beach, expect it to be very crowded in summer months. [insert picture].

We also recommend swimming off the concrete of Manarola. We did not end up doing this ourselves, but plenty of people were laying down with towels, and jumping off the rocks into the water. If we stayed in Manarola, we would have spent all afternoon here.

Note: the Spiaggione di Corniglia looks like a great option on Google maps, but it actually closed! Do not make the same mistakes we did!

Recommended Places

Gheme

This was a cute wine bar right on Via Colombo in Riomaggiore. We recommend it because the ladies that work here are passionate about their local wine and love explaining it to us. You must come here if you want to try the local underrated wine. Also make sure to book a reservation!

Old School Cocktails and Food

This is a perfect place to sit outside from an elevated view. We came here just for a quick drink, but we could have stayed here all day.

Primo Piatto

If you want to save money and not eat out for a night, come here for some tasty take-away pizzas. Very kind staff with a conveniently located shop.

Traveling to Riomaggiore on a Budget

Accommodation 

Riomaggiore is considerably more expensive than many other Italian vacation spots. We recommend biting the bullet and pay more to stay in the towns. They come alive at night and they look beautiful as the street lights reflect off the buildings. If you want to experience Riomaggiore by day, stay in La Spezia or Genoa for less than half the price for accommodation. The Cinque Terre requires a tourist tax of 20 Euros per person per night.

Eating out

There are affordable options for eating out for dinner in Riomaggiore. The general rule with these towns is to eat far away from the water. The further you go down towards the water, the more expensive the menus get. If you truly want a cheap experience, buy a take-out pizza and a bottle of wine and indulge at the beach or a viewpoint for the priceless sunsets.

Take hikes!

The surrounding mountains and villages are amazing! The more you hike, the less money you spend on shopping or other pointless things. You absolutely need to hike when you are here. 

To be brief, The Cinque Terre is an expensive location in essence, but there are ways to evade high costs. nonetheless this area is one of our favorites in all of Italy!

Conclusion

Riomaggiore is the perfect town to stay in when looking in the Cinque Terre. The activities in this region are extensive, so anyone can enjoy it. Although the Cinque Terre is pricy compared to other Italian destinations, there are plenty of cost-cutting alternatives. Check out the video below from an informative vlog called Perfect Little Planet: