I equals 1,580 lire A sleepy, romantic, and inexpensive town on the Riviera without a tourist in sight. That's the mirage travelers chase in busy Nice and Cannes. Paradise sleeps just across the border in Italy's Cinque Terre. . Established centuries ago by pirates hiding out, the area, between Pisa and Genoa, has always been considered too rugged to develop and is virtually inaccessible by car.
Visitors arrive by train.
The villagers have almost no choice but to go about their business as if the surrounding vineyards were the very edges of the earth. . Each town has its own flavor and personality. Monterosso al Mare boasts the area's only sandy beach, plenty of fine hotels, restaurants, and rentable paddleboats. Its four little sisters frolic overlooked, forgotten behind battered breakwaters. . Riomaggiore is a beauty that has seduced famed artists into becoming residents.