Village of Manarola at dusk
Cinque Terre is a series of five small fishing villages on the west coast of Italy, known as the Italian Riviera. In these towns there are basically no cars, no stop lights and few roads wide enough to drive cars if you had one. We stayed in Corniglia, the middle of the five towns. To get to our condo we walked up a series of narrow sidewalks bordered by 4-5 story buildings several hundred years old. Adding to the interest of our stay were three turtles in the back yard. The first night we saw the Mom Turtle dig a hole with her hind legs and lay eggs. The very close proximity of the buildings does not provide much privacy but adds to the quaintness. If not careful, our just washed clothes could drip on the people walking below when hung out to dry. Corniglia was on a high hill requiring 400+ steps, arranged in a series of switchbacks, to arrive in the town from the train station. The bus service between town and train station was unreliable, so walking was the preferred method for us as it also provided good exercise. So here you have an entire town that is not wheelchair accessible. If you wanted to go to the scenic beach, that would be another 400+ steps down on the other side of the cliff, no bus service. I would say the Cinque Terre area is a highlight of Italy and wonderfully unique area.