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I just returned from traveling from Italy. I have seen a lot of this but I have decided to dedicate this post to Cinque Terre, a place that has attracted a great number of tourists in recent years. Maybe too many.

I spent the Cinque Terre for 1 day. It is quite enough for me to visit these 5 small places, located just off the coast without too much retention.
Cinque Terre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
As we have been told, paint houses in all these places are not an old tradition but just a trick to attracting tourists. When people no longer knew how to make a living, they decided to turn to tourism, and, well, very successfully.

We come to La Spezia where we sit on the train and drive to the first of five places - Riomaggiore. The ride lasted 3 minutes.
It is lightly hot, there are plenty of tourists, bars near the main street are full. We walk to the main square through a tunnel passing parallel to the rail.
On the main square the view is shot at the vineyards just above the square, and from the square to the sea there is a narrow exit to the sea with ships drawn to the shore.
Last night was quite windy.

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We go through town, sister and I buy big beach bags at top prices, and we go further for the second place - Manarola.

To Manarola we drive by train for 4 min.
Manarola is the most famous and most scenic place in the Cinque Terre. It is not the largest but defintively highlights. All the famous photographs of Cinque Terre are actually photographed in Manarola.
We also come to the main square, and walk down the cliff to a restaurant where the view fires directly into place. There is a lot of tourists, we hardly get a free place for a few pictures.

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It's pretty hot and it would be good to have a hat or at least a swimsuit for a bit to refresh.
Surprisingly, the sea is quite spotted, with lots of dark spots, so there was no swimmers. We spend an hour in Manarola walking through the main street that is quite similar to Riomaggiore, we buy souvenir and fridge magnet, and continue on to Vernazza.

Oooo, Vernazza. My Favourite. Already at the train exit it is noticeable that it has the most tourists. We stand in line to get off the station. We descend on the main street and arrive directly to the seashore. Unlike the previous two places where we did not go down to the coast, here's the center of the event almost on the beach. We sit on the coffee right next to the sea, and as the wind winds the hair, we drink that bitter Italian coffee and enjoy the sun. It's wonderful to be on vacation in Italy. I love Italy.
Soon we get up and we continue exploring this beautiful place.

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We climb up the cliff and walk through the very narrow alleys to the bell tower. Soon my mother concludes that it is too high for her and that she is tired for further climbing so we give up.
We return to the place and decide to walk around the surrounding shops. We come to a store where a cat is guard who is not interested in any contact with people, sunbaths on souvenirs and enjoys calling for photography.

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There is not much time left for us, so we go to Monterosso as the last place.
Monterosso is the largest and in my view it does not belong to other places. It has a large, large sandy beach, cafes and restaurants by the beach, cars passing through the place,  everything that previous places do not have and what makes them more intimate and more special.

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We are visiting a beautiful church in the very center of town. Around her there is a labyrinthine alley full of shops where we spend the next hour.
Monterosso is the ideal place to buy wines that we have been measuring all day long.
If Cinque Terre is known for something, then this is a wonderful wine and lemon.

You notice we've only visited 4 places. Our tour was guided and we were advised to skip Corniglia as third place because there is not much to see and it is better to dedicate that time to other places. Corniglia is high in the hill and has 365 steps to it.

Cinque Terre are wonderful little places. I'm a little disappointed with the facades and balconies. Facades are falling apart, no one seems to care about it. Outside these paint houses look a bit more charming than close-up. I hope the residents will take care not to lose the Cinque Terre image as colorful small places.

As far as time is concerned, one day is enough if you spend 2 hours in each place, which for some places is enough and for some it may be too little. I would like to have spent another day, to give every place enough attention and to absorb people from everywhere, but I think over two days I would have nothing to do.
Except in the case of swimming, and in this case, I doubt it, because of the color of the sea in some places.

Definitely visit, drink wine, try their lemon biscuits, sit in a restaurant overlooking Manarola and enjoy the beautiful Italy.