The only real beach town of the five: old town lanes, lemon groves, and the Cinque Terre's easiest base.
Explore → Get Early AccessThe one with the actual beach — umbrella rows under lemon terraces, a proper old town behind the seafront, and anchovies so good they have festivals. If the other four are paintings, Monterosso is the resort that lets you swim inside one.
The largest and oldest-documented of the five (1056), Monterosso guarded the coast with the Aurora tower — one of thirteen once watching for Saracen raids — and its Fegina expansion gave the Cinque Terre its only true sandy stretch.
Monterosso's anchovies are a Slow Food presidium — salted the medieval way and celebrated with a June festival; 'acciughe' here is a compliment. Montale, the Nobel poet, summered in the family villa and wrote the lemon groves into Italian literature.
The quiet one: high on its cliff, 382 steps from the station, and blissfully calmer than…
The Lovers' Lane: the famous cliff-cut promenade between Riomaggiore and Manarola, reborn after years of closure.
No sand? No problem: rock platforms, harbor ladders, and coves where the water is impossibly clear.
The first village: a steep stack of color above a tiny harbor, and the gateway to…
Pesto was born next door: anchovies, focaccia, and seafood cones eaten on a harbor wall.
Trains every few minutes, ferries with the best views, and why you should never, ever bring…
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