Italy · Liguria
Yacht Charter Cinque Terre
Five villages built into cliffs with no harbour worth the name — which is why arriving by sea is not a luxury here.
The five villages are the most photographed stretch of the Italian coast and the hardest to visit well. They are built into cliffs, connected by a single-track railway and a footpath, and by mid-morning in season they hold more people than they were built for. From a boat none of that applies: you anchor off, land at one of them by tender, and leave when it fills.
See them from the water, land at one
The honest advice is to look at all five from the sea and go ashore at one. They are small and steep and there is no reward for collecting them — Vernazza has the only natural harbour, Manarola the best approach, Monterosso the only real beach.
None of them has a harbour that takes a yacht. You anchor off and the tender does the work, which is also the only arrival that skips the train and the queue.
What the coast is like underneath
The whole stretch is a protected marine area and a UNESCO site, so anchoring is zoned and some sectors are closed. The crew hold the current chart; it changes between seasons.
The water is deep close in and the coast is exposed to the south-west, which means the anchorages work in settled weather and not otherwise. Portovenere, twenty minutes south, is the shelter when it turns.
Practical notes
- No yacht is based in Liguria: the nearest is at Cala de' Medici, a day south
- There is no usable harbour in any of the five — you anchor off and land by tender
- Protected marine area: anchoring is zoned, some sectors are closed, and the zoning changes between seasons
- Exposed to the south-west; Portovenere twenty minutes south is the all-weather refuge
Reached from: Santa Margherita Ligure and Cala de' Medici
Where to dine
A table by the water
Belforte
VernazzaCut into the watchtower above the harbour, with tables on the rock and the sea underneath them.
Nessun Dorma
ManarolaOn the terrace looking back at the village, which is the view everybody has seen and few have eaten in front of.
Miky
MonterossoThe most serious kitchen of the five, and the only one of the villages with a beach to walk off afterwards.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
Vernazza from the sea
The only natural harbour of the five, and the arrival the village was built around before the railway existed.
Manarola
Stacked above a rock inlet with no beach at all. The approach by tender is the best two minutes on this coast.
Punta Mesco
The headland at the northern end, inside the marine reserve, with the clearest water of the stretch under it.
Portovenere
Twenty minutes south: a Genoese fortress, a striped church on the headland, and the shelter when the south-westerly gets up.
The fleet
Yachts available for the Cinque Terre
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about the Cinque Terre
- Can we berth at the Cinque Terre?
- No — none of the five has a harbour that takes a yacht. You anchor off and land by tender, which is also the arrival that avoids the train and the queue.
- How many of the villages should we visit?
- One, properly, rather than five in a hurry. See the rest from the water: they are best from there anyway, and they are full by mid-morning in season.
- What does a yacht charter to the Cinque Terre cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season, the crew and the positioning, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
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Enquire about a charter at the Cinque Terre
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.