We arrived in Rome the day before our check in here and took the train to Vernazza. The trip was roughly 4 hours long with one transfer… buy your tickets early and get a first class seat!
Arriving in Vernazza, we were struck by how convenient the town is. The train station sits up the street at one end of town. Walk toward the sea and end up at what we were calling the town square. The street is lined with so many wonderful restaurants and shops… we could have stayed much longer than a week and still not tasted everything. The gelato was plentiful and delicious! There are a couple little stores where we bought cheeses, meat, bread, wine, and pastries to take back to the home for lunches and nibbles. The town is laid back with a very energetic vibe. Loads of tourists during the day who disappear with the last train in the evenings. The HOUSE though! I travelled with my sister and four of our older teenager kids. The beds are comfy (each bedroom having an A/C unit that worked very well) and spacious. Two comfortable bathrooms on the bedroom level. Downstairs is the dining/living room area with a tiny, perfect kitchen. The view out the three sets of gorgeous double doors can’t be described and photos won’t do it justice.
You have to see it. The stairs up to the home are challenging if you aren’t active, but definitely doable… just rest intermittently.
The hiking path is literally right outside of the house gate. We did the 3.6km hike to Monterosso in about 2 hours. Take lots of water. We enjoyed a lovely lunch and some shopping and then some of us took the train back to Vernazza while a couple of us hiked the trail back. It took about an hour to return. The swimming down by the rocks is amazing… the water refreshing but not too cold. We bought floaties and goggles at one of the stores and loved jumping off the low cliffs. I’d love to return and would highly recommend this property! Luca and Emanuela are lovely, responsive, and very helpful. We’d run out of coffee pods on our last day and I inquired about where to go to buy some more… there is no place in town so Luca made a special delivery of pods despite our protests that we could just get coffee in town. We are so grateful for the week that we had in Vernazza