Sun Sand Spectacular

The Cinque Terre (Five Towns) is without a doubt the best place we visited so far. As the name suggests, the towns of Monterossa (the largest, where we stayed), Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are nestled at the foot of huge mountains meeting a torquoise 24deg Meditteranean in the south of Italy, half way between Genoa and Pisa. The towns together have about 1,000 inhabitants and swell to over 5,000 in the height of summer. Bondi to Bronte walk - eat your heart out! There is a spectacular 4.5hr walk that connects the towns, involving hundreds of steps, rough trails, thin ledges and above all, simply stunning scenery. We spent two days here and visited and swam in all towns (of course)! No cars are allowed in the towns so all you can hear are roosters, church bells and the sound of locals chatting about how Italy beat Australia (we watched the match here and were shouted a bottle of wine to help us feel better). Aussie to win in 2010!