Cinque Terre

The name means five lands. From east to west, the villages are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Four of them sit at the water's edge. Corniglia is the exception. It stands on a headland about 100 metres above the sea, and from its station you either climb the Lardarina, a brick stairway of 382 steps, or take the shuttle bus.

For most of their history, the villages were easier to reach by sea than over the mountains. Farmers built dry-stone walls across the steep hillsides to make terraces for vines and olives. That farmed landscape is why UNESCO listed the area in 1997, together with Portovenere and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. Italy made it a national park in 1999, and the park now manages the footpaths and charges for the busiest ones.

The food is Ligurian. Pesto comes from this region, and every village sells focaccia by the slice from early morning. Monterosso is known for salted anchovies and lemons. The local dessert wine, Sciacchetrà, is made from grapes left to dry for weeks after the harvest, so it is sweet, amber and sold in small bottles.

It is a long day, often 12 to 13 hours from Florence and back. Coaches usually leave around 7 am and reach La Spezia or Levanto after about two hours on the motorway. Coaches cannot drive down to the villages, so the rest of the day is by local train, and on some trips by boat.

Most trips cover three or four villages rather than all five. Corniglia is the one most often skipped, because of the climb from its station. Trains between neighbouring villages take only a few minutes, but in summer they are packed and the narrow platforms fill fast. You usually get about an hour in the smaller villages and longer in Monterosso, which has the biggest beach and the most places to eat.

The boat, when it runs, shows you the villages from the water, the angle most photos are taken from. It calls at Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola and Riomaggiore, but not Corniglia, which has no harbour. In rough seas it is cancelled and trips switch to the train.

Lunch is normally on your own, in whichever village you choose. Some trips stop in Pisa on the way back for a short visit to the Leaning Tower.

May, June and September give the best balance. The trails are dry, the boats are running, and the sea is warm enough to swim from June. July and August are hot and very crowded, most of all at weekends and around Ferragosto, the 15 August holiday.

April and October are quieter and still mild, though rain is more likely and the boats run fewer times a day. In winter most boats stop, some restaurants close for the season, and storms can shut trails at short notice.

In any month, crowds build from mid-morning, when trains from La Spezia and tour groups arrive, and thin out in the late afternoon. The park prices the Cinque Terre Card by expected demand, so its calendar of cheaper and dearer days is a fair guide to which dates will be busiest.