( Tribune Media Services ) -- Italy 's Cinque Terre is a quintet of villages clinging to a bit of rugged coastline between Genoa and Pisa . Long cut off from the modern world , this remote chunk of the Italian Riviera only became easily accessible with the coming of the train . Boats are a way of life in Vernazza . Each village is a variation on the same theme : a well-whittled , pastel jumble of homes , filling a gully like crusty sea creatures in a tide pool . Locals are the barnacles -- hungry , but patient . And we travelers are like algae , coming in with the tide . Since my mind goes on vacation with the rest of me when I 'm here , I think of the towns by number , east to west : no . 1 Riomaggiore ( a workaday town ) , no . 2 Manarola ( picturesque ) , no . 3 Corniglia ( on a hilltop ) , no . 4 Vernazza ( the region 's dramatic cover girl ) , and no . 5 Monterosso al Mare ( the closest thing to a beach resort ) . To preserve this land , the government has declared the Cinque Terre ( CHINK-weh TAY-reh ) a national park . For a small entrance fee ( about $ 8 for a one-day pass ) , visitors can hike the trail connecting all five towns , a trek that takes about five hours . You can choose any village for a home base , but Vernazza is my favorite . At the top end of town a little road hits a post , effectively a dead end for drivers . Like the breakwater keeps out the waves at the bottom of town , the post keeps out the modern storm at the top . No cars enter this village of 600 people -- except on Tuesday morning , when a few cars and trucks show up for a tailgate-party street market , augmenting the meager business community . Vernazza has the only natural harbor in the Cinque Terre . In the Middle Ages , there was no beach or square . The water went right up to the buildings , where boats would tie up , Venetian-style . Vernazza 's fishing fleet is down to just a couple of boats . Still , Vernazzans are more likely to own a boat than a car . Boats remain on buoys , except in winter or when the red storm flag indicates bad seas . In that case they 're allowed to pull up onto the main square , usually reserved for restaurant tables . Vernazza has a humble little working beach -- a pebbled cove littered with scenes of a community that lives off the sea ... and travelers who love the views . Well-worn locals fill the benches while tourists sunbathe on rocks . In the summer , the beach becomes a soccer ground , where teams fielded by local bars and restaurants provide late-night entertainment . The town has two halves . Sciuiu ( Vernazzan dialect for `` flowery '' ) is the sunny side on the left as you face inland , and luvegu ( dank ) is the shady side on the right . On the far right , a castle -- now just stones and a grassy park -- served as the town 's lookout back in pirate days . Below the castle an interior arcade connected the houses -- ideal for fleeing attacks . These days , `` Ligurian pastel '' colors are regulated by a commissioner of good taste in the regional government . Vernazza 's harbor-front church is unusual for its strange entryway , which faces east ( altar side ) . Hanging on the wall inside are three historic portable crosses -- replicas of crosses that Vernazza ships once brought along on crusades to the Holy Land . During Easter processions , these crosses are taken down and carried through town . Located in front of the church , a tiny piazza -- decorated with a river rock mosaic -- is a popular hangout spot . It 's where Vernazza 's old ladies soak up the last bit of sun , and kids enjoy a patch of level ball field . Beyond the town , vineyards , with their many terraces , fill the mountainside . Someone -- probably after too much local wine -- calculated that the roughly 3,000 miles of terrace walls have the same amount of stonework as the Great Wall of China . Wine production is down nowadays , as younger residents choose less physical work . But locals still maintain their tiny plots and proudly serve their family wines . Evenings in Vernazza are well spent sitting on a bench and enjoying the scene , either with a gelato or a glass of local white wine ( borrow the glass from a bar , they do n't mind ) . Observe the passeggiata ( evening stroll ) , as locals meander lazily up and down the main street doing their vasca ( laps ) . Or gaze at the people looking out the windows of the faded pastel buildings , like a gallery of portraits hanging on ancient walls . Here in Vernazza the generation that did n't grow up with television spends time posted at their windows , watching over a world as reassuring as the Mediterranean tide . Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio . E-mail him at rick @ ricksteves.com , or write to him c/o P.O . Box 2009 , Edmonds , Wash. 98020 . Copyright 2009 RICK STEVES , DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES , INC .
Rick also writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows . His television series , ` ` Rick and ' Friends , '' airs on PBS stations . Steves ' company , Europe Through the Open Door , conducts European tours .