Cinque Terre August has 5 million visitors per year in a cliff ecosystem that the park authority calculates can sustainably support 1.5 million. September has the same sea temperature, the same cliff-hanging village architecture, the same anchovy fritters at the Monterosso friggitorie, and approximately 40% fewer people. The trail cards are available. The terraced vineyards are being harvested. This is the month.
Read the guide →Cinque Terre (the Five Lands — Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso al Mare, five villages on the Ligurian cliff coast between La Spezia and Levanto) receives approximately 5 million annual visitors in a protected coastal ecosystem that the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre's carrying capacity studies consistently identify as already significantly over-stressed. The park authority has implemented timed trail access (the Sentiero Azzurro — the blue trail connecting all five villages — requires a trail card purchased online at cinque5terre.it), limits on trail daily access numbers, and seasonal pricing to manage the overcrowding. In August, trail cards sell out by 9am for the following day. In September, trail cards are available on the day of use from 7am at the park offices in each village.
The specific September advantages: sea temperature 23–25°C (the northern Mediterranean reaches its thermal peak in September, warmer than August because the sea heats throughout the summer); crowd density 35–45% below August; hotel prices 20–30% below August peak; the harvest season (vendemmia) in the terraced Ligurian vineyards visible from the trail paths; the anchovy season peak (September is the final month of the Ligurian anchovy season — the colatura di alici production, the salting of the anchovies, is happening in the Monterosso fish curing facilities during September visits); and the September light quality (lower sun angle, longer shadows on the cliff faces, the specific gold of Italian early autumn).
The Sentiero Azzurro (Cinque Terre blue trail, trail number 2) is the coastal walking path connecting all five villages at cliff level — the most celebrated coastal walk in Italy and the primary reason most visitors come to Cinque Terre. The full trail from Riomaggiore to Monterosso is 12km and takes 5–6 hours with stops. The path has three sections with different access conditions:
Riomaggiore to Manarola (Via dell'Amore — the Path of Love, 1.3km, 20 minutes): The most famous section, historically the easiest, was seriously damaged in 2012 landslides and has been partially reconstructed with safety engineering. As of 2024, the Via dell'Amore is open with timed entry (separate booking from the main trail card, €5, available at cinque5terre.it). Manarola to Corniglia (2.8km, 1.5 hours): The most challenging section, rocky terrain, some exposed passages. Cliff-level views of the Corniglia promontory. Requires good footwear. Corniglia to Vernazza and Vernazza to Monterosso (4km and 3.5km respectively): The most spectacular section with constant views of the sea and the cliff villages; also the most physically demanding. In September the path is clear of the August human density — you can stop on the path to photograph without 50 people behind you urging movement. Trail card: €7.50 for the full trail, including the park shuttle service between villages. Purchase at cinque5terre.it or at any park office.
Monterosso al Mare: The only Cinque Terre village with a proper beach (the other four have rocky waterfront without sand). September sea temperature 24°C; beach clubs still operating (€15–20 for sunbed set); the Monterosso anchovy season peak. Vernazza: The most picturesque harbour of the five villages — the small boat harbour with the 11th-century Doria castle above, the cliff-face village, and the specific September morning light that arrives direct on the painted facades of the harbour-front buildings. The best photo position for Vernazza: the castle terrace (15-minute walk up from the main piazza, free access) at 8am. Manarola: The most photographed Cinque Terre village — the specific view from the Via dell'Amore direction (the village rising above the cliff with the vineyard terraces above and the harbour below) is on every Cinque Terre promotional image. September: the vineyards directly behind Manarola are being harvested — the sciacchetrà grape picking is visible from the trail above the village. Riomaggiore: The southernmost and most accessible (direct train connection from La Spezia, 10 minutes); the coloured cliff-face houses most dramatically lit at late afternoon; the best Cinque Terre focaccia at the bakery on the main street.
September is one of the two best months for Cinque Terre (with May). The sea is at its warmest (23–25°C, warmer than August), crowds are 35–45% below the July–August peak, trail cards are available on the day of use (vs selling out weeks ahead in August), hotel prices drop 20–30%, the wine harvest gives the terraced vineyard landscape its most active and photogenic context, and the September light is more interesting than summer's flat overhead illumination. The specific disadvantage vs August: some beach infrastructure starts closing in late September; the days are slightly shorter. The advantages significantly outweigh this. Cinque Terre in September on a Wednesday is one of the finest coastal walking experiences in Italy.
The Cinque Terre Trekking Card (cinque5terre.it, €7.50 for the full Sentiero Azzurro) is the access permit for the blue coastal trail connecting all five Cinque Terre villages. The card includes: access to the Sentiero Azzurro hiking path (all sections); unlimited use of the park shuttle buses between the villages; and use of the park beach areas. Available online (cinque5terre.it — recommended, allows specific date booking) or at park offices in each village (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso) from 7am. In August the card may sell out for the same day by 9–10am; in September same-day purchase is reliably available. The Via dell'Amore section requires a separate booking (€5 additional) due to the timed entry system implemented after the section's reconstruction. Cards are valid for one day; 2-day cards are available at €14.
Sciacchetrà is the traditional Cinque Terre DOC sweet wine — made from late-harvested Bosco, Albarola, and Vermentino grapes sun-dried on the steep cliff terraces before pressing. The drying concentrates the sugars; the resulting wine is amber-coloured, 17–18° alcohol, sweet to semi-sweet with honey, apricot, and almond notes. Total annual production: approximately 30,000 litres — the most limited Italian DOC wine production by volume. Available almost exclusively at source (Cantina di Riomaggiore, Vernazza wine cooperative, and individual producer cantinas in all five villages) at €25–40 for a 375ml bottle. The harvest (vendemmia) happens mid-September to mid-October — visiting the Cinque Terre during this period allows witnessing the harvest on the terraces and buying new-vintage sciacchetrà from the producers at their lowest prices of the year.
The only practical access to Cinque Terre without a car (which cannot enter the villages — no roads connect to village centres): the La Spezia to Levanto regional train (Trenitalia, €4–5 for the full route), stopping at Riomaggiore, Manarola (1km walk from Manarola village), Corniglia (213 steps or shuttle from the train station), Vernazza, and Monterosso. From Genoa: 1 hour to La Spezia (€8–14), then the village train; total journey from Genoa to Riomaggiore under 2 hours. From Florence: 2.5 hours to La Spezia (change at Pisa); from Milan: 3.5 hours (change at Genoa or La Spezia). The Cinque Terre boat service (seasonal, spring–autumn) connects all five villages by sea — the view of the cliff villages from the sea is the most revelatory perspective available, and the September sea conditions make boat travel more comfortable than the August crowd pressure. Related: Liguria and lakes guide, Italy guide.
Trail card booking, sciacchetrà harvest timing, Vernazza castle photography access, and the La Spezia train connection for the September village circuit.
La Redazione di TourLeaderPro.comItaly has approximately 2,500 abandoned villages (borghi abbandonati or paesi fantasma) — communities that were depopulated in the 20th century through internal migration, earthquake damage, or landslide relocation. Several of the most extraordinary are now partially repopulated or open to visitors:
Craco, Basilicata: The most dramatically photogenic abandoned village in Italy — a medieval hilltop community (population 1,800 in 1950, population 0 since 1980) partially destroyed by landslide and subsequently abandoned on the orders of the regional authority. The ruins are accessible via guided tour only (Craco Society, cjracosocie.it, €5 — the most dramatic abandoned village tour in southern Italy, used as a filming location for Christ Stopped at Eboli and Quantum of Solace). Civita di Bagnoregio, Lazio: The opposite of abandoned — a village of 12 permanent residents on a volcanic tufa plateau accessible by a single pedestrian bridge (€5 entry to the bridge). Civita is dying slowly — the tufa plateau erodes approximately 1m per year, and the bridge is the only connection. It has been called "the town that is dying" (la città che muore) since Barzini wrote about it in 1947. Currently it receives 700,000+ annual visitors, which has stabilised the population slightly (some tourism-related residents have returned) but created a problematic overtourism dynamic on a 5-hectare plateau. Aliano, Basilicata: The village where Carlo Levi was confined during his 1935–1936 internal exile (as documented in Christ Stopped at Eboli, 1945 — the most important Italian non-fiction work of the 20th century). Levi's house-museum is open; the landscape of the Basilicata calanchi (eroded clay badlands) that he painted during his confinement is visible from the village. Population 900 and declining.
Italy's most remarkable abandoned or near-abandoned villages: Craco (Basilicata, guided tours only, dramatic medieval ruins on a landslide-compromised hilltop, Bond film location); Civita di Bagnoregio (Lazio, €5 bridge access, 12 permanent residents, the "dying city" on an eroding tufa plateau); Pentedattilo (Calabria, near Reggio Calabria — a medieval village abandoned after a 1783 earthquake, partially rebuilt on the new site of Sant'Alessio but the original site still visible, the name means "five fingers" from the rock formation above); and Roscigno Vecchia (Cilento, Campania — a village frozen in time since its 1902 earthquake-forced abandonment, with many original furnishings still in the stone houses).
Italy has the most developed natural thermal spring (terme) culture in Europe — approximately 380 registered thermal spa establishments across 20 regions, fed by geothermal springs that have been used continuously since the Roman period. The key distinction: Italian terme are not wellness spas in the northern European sense — they are medically classified as curative establishments (stabilimenti termali), many operating under Italy's national health service (servizio sanitario nazionale) for specific therapeutic indications. The most significant:
Terme di Saturnia (Grosseto, Tuscany): The most accessible and most photographed Italian natural hot spring — a series of cascading pools (temperature 37.5°C, the same year-round, fed by a sulphurous spring with a flow rate of 800 litres per second) forming natural terraced basins in the Maremma countryside. The public pools (Cascate del Mulino, Via Follonata, Saturnia — free, accessible 24 hours) are the most visited free thermal bathing site in Italy. The Hotel Terme di Saturnia (termedisaturnia.it) adjacent to the public pools offers the resort version. No booking required for the free cascade pools; arrive before 9am to find parking. Terme di Abano and Montegrotto Terme (Padua province, Veneto): The largest thermal resort concentration in Italy — 120+ hotels with thermal pools in the Euganei hills 20km from Padua, fed by radioactive sodium chloride springs at 87°C (cooled to 36–38°C for bathing). The therapeutic focus: rheumatological conditions (the fango — volcanic thermal mud — is applied in clinical treatments regulated by the health service). The most internationally known: Hotel Terme Roma, Hotel Commodore. Terme di Fiuggi (Frosinone province, Lazio): The water cure destination most specifically associated with Italian history — Pope Boniface VIII was treated here (1299); Michelangelo drank the waters during a 1548 visit for kidney stones. The Fiuggi water (now widely available as bottled mineral water throughout Italy) is specifically indicated for kidney stone prevention — a claim documented in the medical literature. The spa town of Fiuggi Alta (the medieval hilltop section) is worth visiting independently of the terme.
Italy's most accessible natural hot springs (terme naturali): Cascate del Mulino, Saturnia (Grosseto, Tuscany — free, 37.5°C natural cascade pools, open 24 hours, no booking, arrive before 9am for parking); Terme di Bagni San Filippo (Castiglione d'Orcia, Tuscany — free sulphurous hot springs with white travertine formations, in a forest setting, less known than Saturnia); Terme di Bormio (Sondrio, Lombardy — high-altitude Alpine hot springs at 1,225m, €20–35 for day access, combined with the Stelvio pass area); Fumarole di Solfatara (Pozzuoli, Campania — the active volcanic crater with fumaroles and mud pools inside the Campi Flegrei caldera, €8, open daily — an entirely different thermal experience from bathing: a walk through an active volcanic surface). All free springs: arrive early, bring cash, expect Italian social bathing customs (communal, sociable, clothing optional at some sites).