On this post I will highlight the best things to do in a day in Monterosso al Mare one of the Cinque Terre villages in Italy.
The previous day involved a lot of walking between Monterosso and Vernazza in the Sentiero Azzuro. We did not have time to explore Monterosso, so the next day was dedicated to this village.
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After checking out of “Affittacamere Le Giare” in Riomaggiore, we left our luggage at their reception while we went to spend the day in Monterosso, Cinque Terre.
We had our breakfast at the café on Via Columbo and headed to the train station.
We always book train tickets with Omio as they are a very easy to use and reliable platform. You can also book buses, flights and ferries with them. To book with Omio, use this link.
The trip to Monterosso from Riomaggiore is just about 15 minutes passing through all the other Cinque Terre villages as Monterosso is the last one. It is a nice trip by the coast with some beautiful views on the way.
We were travelling independently as we are confident travellers and speak a bit of the language. However, if you prefer to be part of a tour and to have everything organised for you, I advise you to book a complete tour with Tourradar.
They have different kinds of tours that will fit your time and budget. If you book it via my links you can get a discount by using this code: RoseG50.
Below is a map showing the places to visit in Monterosso, Italy:
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MONTEROSSO
Monterosso is the largest of the Cinque Terre Villages and the most developed of them all. It is also the only village with a nice proper sand beach. If that is what you are looking for, to lay on the beach and enjoy the sun, this is the village you should stay.
The village is divided in two parts, The Old Town and the New Town. They are linked by a tunnel and both parts can be reached via the tunnel or via the path that runs alongside the coast.
In the past Monterosso could only be reached by the sea or via mule paths, but in 1870 a railway line was built to connect it to the rest of the world.
The train station is located in the New Town in front of “Fegina Beach” giving easy access to everywhere in the village.
The main attractions to see in Monterosso include: the beaches of course, the Old Town, the Church of San Giovanni Battista, Monterosso Giant, Convento dei Frati Cappuccini, Oratorio dei Neri, Torre Aurora and Santuario di Nostra Signora di Reggio
For a boat tour visiting all the villages you can book this tour here. There is a stop for swimming in the crystal-clear waters along the coast. The tour starts in Monterosso, but it can also start from La Spezia.
In addition to all the above there is also the Sentiero Azzuro that links Monterosso to Vernazza that should be walked to appreciate the beauty of this part of the Italian Riviera.
VISITING MONTEROSSO AL MARE
We arrived in Monterosso at around 10 am. From the train station we strolled on the promenade admiring “Spiaggia di Fegina” (Fegina’s beach) and its colourful parasols. At that time, it was already quite busy. We walked in the direction of the “Spiaggia Gigante” (Giant’s Beach).
It is a small stretch of beach that is free to all, contrary to the others that are full of Lidos that charge to sit on their beach lounges and under their parasols. However, because this beach is free, it is always busy, but if you get there early you can secure a space for your towel.
On this beach you will see the statue of a giant taking proud place on top of a rock.
The giant statue was part of a villa that existed on that place but the giant and the villa were damaged during World War II bombardments. The giant gives the name to this beach.
It is a sand beach with calm waters, good for families with young kids.
If you want to spend the day on the beach and include water activities, there is this Kayak and snorkeling tour starting in Monterosso. It looks like it is a lot of fun.
From there we walked all the way to the other side and instead of crossing the tunnel we took the path around the coast to get to the Old Town also known as “Borgo Antico”.
This is the most attractive area of Monterosso with its maze of narrow streets and colourful houses.
We explored the Old Town and visited the” Church of San Giovanni Battista” in the centre of the Old Town.
This church was built between 1244 and 1307 and was remodelled between 1963 and 1964. The style is Genoese Ligurian Gothic with the façade built in white marble and dark green serpentine with a beautiful rose window also built in white marble above the main entrance.
Next to “San Giovanni Battiste” Church you will find the “Oratorio Mortis et Orationis – Confraternita dei Neri” – It was built in the 17th century in a baroque style and deserves a visit to see the skulls and skeletons among the decorations.
By then it was lunch time, so we found a place to have a quick lunch before continuing with our Monterosso explorations.
After lunch we got lost in the streets of the Old Town and looked at the small souvenir shops scattered around town.
We went in the direction of the Old Town Beach and stopped at “Giardino Pubblico” (Public Gardens) where the monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi is.
He was an Italian general that contributed to the Italian unification and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy.
For the more active ones I suggest taking this Cinque Terre National Park E-Bike tour where you will explore the National Park and takes you to the “Santuario di Nostra Signora di Reggio” and other places.
After we explored everything, we sat down in a bar and enjoyed a cold lemon Spritz watching people passing by.
We could have visited the “Convento dei Frati Cappuccini” and “Torre Aurora” after the drinks, but as these two activities involved a bit of a climbing we chose not to go and decided to just relax with our Aperol Spritz and people watch.
It was a very pleasant day spent in Monterosso al Mare and after finishing our drinks we decided to board a boat back to Riomaggiore instead of taking the train. It was a different perspective, as we could see the villages from the sea.
After collecting our suitcases, we boarded a train to La Spezia at the end of the afternoon and arrived in La Spezia in a matter of minutes.
We booked a room at “Affitacamere Casa Dane” in La Spezia. This guest house is on top of the train station making it very convenient for us travelling by train.
The guest house was very nice and clean at a very affordable price. It makes sense to stay there instead of any of the Cinque Terre villages if you want to save on accommodation. La Spezia is very close to the villages of the Cinque Terre, and the villages are very accessible by train.
We checked-in, had a shower and a bit of a rest before going out again to look for a place for dinner. We didn’t have any restaurants booked and decided to walk along the main road and find a place we fancied to eat.
As it was a Sunday, many restaurants were closed and only the more touristic ones were open.
We walked the whole main street, but we could not see any restaurants that inspired us. We did find one that seemed to be very good on one of the side streets, but they were fully booked, and we could not eat there.
In the end we picked one on the main street that looked less bad, but as expected, the food was not good, and unremarkable.
After dinner we just walked back to our guest house for an early evening as next day promised to be very exciting. We were going to visit Portofino, so bear with me for the next post for the most incredible visit on this trip!
Back at our guest house we booked our train tickets to Santa Margherita Ligure (to go to Portofino) for next day. We always use Omio to book our train tickets. You can use this link if you want to book train tickets to anywhere in Europe.
I hope this post will give you some idea of what can be done in the Cinque Terre in one day and will help you plan your own visit there.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Monterosso al Mare. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
WHAT TO SEE IN MONTEROSSO AL MARE
ATTRACTIONS
1 – The beaches ***
2 – The Old Town ***
3 – Church San Giovanni Battiste ***
4 – Oratorio de Neri ***
5 – Spiaggia Gigante ***
6 – Convento dei Frati Cappuccini
7 – Torre Aurora
8 – Santuario di Nostra Signora di Reggio
WHERE TO STAY
1 – Affittacamere Lo Scoglio (Guesthouse) – 3* – ££
2 – Affittacamere Da Flo (Guesthouse) – 3* – ££
3 – Monterosso Rooms – 4* – £££
4 – La Casa Del Doganieri – 4* – £££
5 – Hotel Stella Della Marina – 3* – ££
6 – Piccolo Principe Affittacamere – 3* – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation just search and book via the widget below:
WHERE TO EAT
1 – Torre Aurora – £££
2 – La Taverna de Monterosso – ££
3 – Ristorante L’Ancora Della Tortuga – £££
4 – Ristorante Milky – £££
5 – Ristorante Lapo (Pizzas) – ££
6 – L’Osteria – ££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to Italy:
1 – Pisa
2 – Lucca
3 – Florence – Day 1
4 – Florence – Day 2
5 – Siena
6 – Riomaggiore – Cinque Terre
7 – Sentiero Azzuro, Vernassa, Coniglia & Manarola – Cinque Terre
8 – Monterosso Al Mare – Cinque Terre
9 – Portofino
10 – La Spezia
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