Summer In Monterosso Al Mare

Before I booked any hotels in Cinque Terre, my biggest question was, where to stay? There are five fishing villages, each as picturesque as one another. So, where to stay? Another question raised in my head was, how long (or short) was the travel between each town? Wouldn’t it make sense if we stayed in Corniglia, which was located in the middle, so it’d be easy to reach towns on both sides? Hmm, decision, decision… After a decent amount of research, I decided that we should stay in Monterosso al Mare, the largest town in Cinque Terre on its far left end.

What sealed the deal for us was not because it had the best beach in Cinque Terre, but the restaurant choices. For foodies like us, it was definitely a plus! Also, easy access to laundry, chemist, and supermarket. (The travelling life sounds glamorous until you realise how important clean underwear, nail polish remover, and low-priced beer are!) Whatever the reason we picked Monterosso as our base in Cinque Terre proved to serve us well.

When we first alighted from the high-speed train, Kent’s first impression of this village was: ‘You took us to paradise!’ Just picture this… sea rocks jutting out from the aquamarine waters of the Mediterranean Sea, pastel-hued buildings, hills shrouded in mist, and those lollipop-like colourful beach umbrellas you have seen in the Italian postcards.

This set of photos I’m sharing were taken on the day after our arrival. We took our hotel – Albergo Suisse Bellevue’s free shuttle minivan from up on the hill to the town’s car park below. We started our walk from the new Monterosso to the old part of the town. Yes, different from the other four Cinque Terre villages, Monterosso has a separate ‘old’ and ‘new’ section, connected by a single tunnel! Monterosso al Mare claims to have the only sandy beach in Cinque Terre. The beach where these orange and green parasols are lined is the most picturesque and most popular lido – a paid/private beach club, in Monterosso.

The last two pictures here were taken at the old Monterosso. This part of the village is predominated by the walls of the ancient fortress. Kent had taken a set of photographs and portraits here in black and white. I think they belong to another story which I will share some other time.

The real beauty in this town, to me, besides its breathtaking scenery and resort-style atmosphere is the local people. On this particular day of shooting, Kent and I were approached by a very friendly and well-dressed senior Italian gentleman. He welcomed us both, joked with us, and shared laughter with us (yes, all in Italian), and each time we met him in town, he had the same enthusiasm toward us. We also met Victoria from the local supermarket, who always gave us hot tips about where to go and what to see with her pretty good English. Head to Kent’s post here to see Victoria’s warm smile and high spirits.

Our typical Monterosso summer day started with a stroll from the new town to the old town, people-watching, a swim or splash in the Mediterranean Sea, grabbing a light meal at an eatery we fancied, gelato tasting, hopping on the train heading to another Cinque Terre village to explore, trying different flavoured gelato, hop on a ferry at sunset… until it was time to make the biggest decision of the day – where to go for dinner? Yeah, those were the days!

Photography by Kent Johnson. Fashion styling by Vivienne She.