Five Destinations I’d Return To In A Heartbeat

If I had to pick five places to return to, where would I go? It’s not something I’ve thought about much in the past. I always try to travel to new destinations whenever I have the chance. But there are a few places that really captured my heart and left me wanting more.

Kan over at Kan Walk Will Travel kindly nominated me to enter a competition currently being run by Booked.net, who are challenging us bloggers to name five places we’d go back to in the future. So where would I travel back to in a heartbeat?

1. Cinque Terre

Situated on the Ligurian coast of Italy, the Cinque Terre must be one of the most stunning places on earth. Incredible, impossibly placed towns nestled amongst the romance of local vineyards is a combination that’s hard to beat.

My previous visit was too fleeting and I didn’t have the opportunity to walk the famous cliffside paths between the five towns. I’d love to return and take a few days slowly hiking the route, making the most of every opportunity for a good photograph along the way.

Perched On The Edge Of The World

It’s hard to say which was my favourite town of the Cinque Terre. Occupying seemingly impossible spots on the Ligurian coast of Italy, they each took a place in my heart for years to come. This shot of Manarola was taken from a viewpoint in the preceding town, Corniglia. I thought that some of the vineyards in the Lavaux region alongside Lake Geneva were steep, but I think the vines on these cliffs could easily give them a run for their money!

Travel theme: Multicoloured

I associate the word multicoloured with one place in particular – the Cinque Terre in Italy – so picking a shot for this week’s travel theme was easy. It’s by far the most colourful place I’ve visited, and probably the most beautiful too. I’d been dreaming of visiting this stunning region for quite a while, so when I finally had the chance I felt compelled to start this blog and tell people about it. This photo was taken in one of the five towns called Vernazza. It’s a place that has to be seen to be believed.

Introducing: Cinque Terre

Unless you’ve spent some time looking into a trip around Italy, you may not have heard of the Cinque Terre. I certainly hadn’t. But since moving to Geneva a few people had mentioned it to me, saying that I must go and see “the five lands”. I did a bit of research and the pictures looked absolutely stunning, a photographer’s paradise. So since it’s a 5 hour drive from Geneva a long weekend was on the cards. Having lived in Geneva for more than 2 years just an hour from the Italian border, this was (shamefully) the first time I had ever been to Italy! I have to say I did not expect the place to live up to my expectations, and was wary of comments I’d read saying it would be crammed full of tourists. And whilst that was the case, I think it’s still the most magical place I’ve visited yet.

The Cinque Terre is a series of five small communes perched impossibly on the cliffs and shoreline of the Italian riviera in the north of Italy. I mean, to look at some of these buildings you might think they were defying gravity. There were so many things that I loved about this region, but if I had to boil it down to two things they would be:

1. The natural landscape is absolutely spectacular. There is something inexplicably special about being right on the cusp of the meeting of land and ocean. It may have been the weather whilst I was there, but the sea was quite rough and standing right beside the shore as waves were crashing into the rugged cliffs really gave you a sense of the sea’s power.

2. The colours. Oh the colours! Not only do you have the fantastic combination of turquoise blue sea and lush green vegetation seemingly disappearing into the ocean at ridiculous angles, but the range of colours in the buildings really does provide a sensory overload.  Pinks, yellows, oranges, reds, greens – it really has it all.

I’m planning a few more blogs on the Cinque Terre, a look at each of the five towns, their beautiful colours and some tips I picked up along the way. But in the mean time, here is my favourite spot for a glass of wine overlooking the harbour and coastline from Riomaggiore – Bar La Conchiglia. I hope you enjoyed my first full blog and look forward to seeing you back here soon! Cheers!

Have you been to the Cinque Terre? Planning a trip to Italy? Feel free to comment below!

A storm is brewing

CinqueTerre_20130525_0148.jpg, a photo by Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. on Flickr.

This was taken after a sunny afternoon in Monterosso al Mare as the clouds started to roll in and the rain came down. I’m really pleased with this shot, I love the amber glow of the lamps sparking up just as the sun starts to set and the shine of the stones. Although it makes me glad I am inside out of the rain right now! Let me know what you think!

Monterosso al Mare – What a view!

CinqueTerre_20130525_0039.jpg, a photo by Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. on Flickr.

My first blog post! This is the full picture from my header, taken just before a downpour on a recent trip to Monterosso Al Mare in the Cinque Terre region of Italy. There will plenty more coming up from this trip, this is a little taster (and a test of posting to the blog from flickr). I don’t know if anybody lives in the building to the right, but what a fantastic view if they do!