STAYING THERE:
DON’T MISS
The sunsets are truly spectacular here. Make a dinner reservation at any one of the many coastal restaurants overlooking the sea – and be sure to get there in good time, to watch as the colours reflect off of the sea on to the staggered, multi-coloured houses dug into the mountains. Stunning.
FOOD AND DRINK
The Cinque Terre is beautiful, but it’s also not very big, and so accommodation in one of its small villages is naturally limited, and gets booked up months in advance – so plan ahead! Eyal and his girlfriend stayed at the Villa Ca’Mea in La Spezia (see villa-camea.la-spezia.hotels-italian-riviera.com/ en) ‘I wanted to surprise Delilah with somewhere really special,’ says Eyal. I couldn’t believe my luck with the Villa Ca’Mea – a wonderfully rustic, family-run B&B on the top of a hill overlooking the whole of La Spezia, including the port. It was a real hidden gem, and surprisingly affordable. Having experienced the busy, tourist hotspot of Rome and the quiet fishing villages of Cinque Terre in one trip, I can wholeheartedly recommend the rustic option every time!’ Well, we’re sold…
In Italy, you really can’t go wrong for top-quality food and drink, but especially here, go for the fresh seafood. For the third night of our trip, Delilah and I had booked an amazing hotel in Rome, which we wanted to drive to – not realising it would take a whole eight hours to get there! On the way, we found a beautiful beach club, the Spiaggia Eco del Mare in Lerici (ecodelmare.it), which had possibly the most incredible food and wine we’d ever tasted! It’s set in a beautiful, private bay – we ended up spending the best part of a day there – sunbathing and making friends. Definitely somewhere to treat yourself.