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Food tours in Cinque Terre: what to eat and which tour to book
The Cinque Terre are five small villages on the Ligurian coast — Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore — and the food is Ligurian: basil pesto with trofie or trenette, focaccia and chickpea farinata, salted and fresh anchovies from Monterosso, fried seafood in paper cones, and wine from terraced vineyards, including the sweet Sciacchetrà. Space is tight and visitor numbers are huge in summer, so many places are small, busy and priced for day-trippers. La Spezia, the city at the southern end of the line, has a covered market and cheaper everyday food.
Use this page to decide what to order and where. The tours shown are real GetYourGuide listings, with prices as seen when we checked; confirm the price, meeting point and train timing on the booking page before you pay.
What to eat in Cinque Terre
| Dish | What it is | Where to eat it | Typical price* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pasta with pesto trofie al pesto / trenette al pesto | Liguria's basil sauce (basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano or Pecorino, olive oil) with short twisted trofie or flat trenette, traditionally sometimes with potato and green beans. | Trattorias in every village; many shops also sell fresh pesto in tubs to take away. | roughly €12–16 a plate |
| Ligurian focaccia focaccia | Flat, oily, salty bread with dimples, plain or topped with onion, olives or potato; eaten at any time of day, including breakfast. | Bakeries (panifici) and focaccerie in each village and in La Spezia. | about €2–4 a slice |
| Chickpea flatbread farinata | A thin, crisp-edged pancake of chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt baked in a wood oven in large copper pans. Popular around La Spezia. | Pizzerias and focaccerie with a wood oven, especially in La Spezia; some village bakeries. | about €2–4 a slice |
| Monterosso anchovies acciughe di Monterosso | Local anchovies served marinated in lemon, fried, stuffed, baked with tomato and potatoes (tegame alla vernazzana), or salted. Salted Monterosso anchovies are a Slow Food presidium. | Restaurants and delis in Monterosso and Vernazza. | roughly €10–16 for a starter or main |
| Fried seafood cone frittura di pesce / cono di fritto misto | A paper cone of fried calamari, small fish and prawns, eaten while walking. Under Italian rules, frozen ingredients must be marked on the menu, often with an asterisk. | Take-away fry shops in Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola and Riomaggiore. | roughly €8–14 a cone |
| Pasta with walnut sauce pansoti con salsa di noci | Herb- and greens-filled pasta parcels with a creamy walnut sauce, a classic of Ligurian home cooking. | Trattorias across Liguria; not on every Cinque Terre menu. | roughly €12–16 |
| Sweet Cinque Terre wine Sciacchetrà | A sweet amber wine made from dried white grapes (mainly Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino) grown on the steep terraces; production is tiny and bottles are expensive. The dry white Cinque Terre DOC is the everyday wine. | Wine bars and enotecas in the villages, and some small producers who offer tastings. | a small glass of Sciacchetrà roughly €8–15; a glass of dry white roughly €5–8 |
Where to eat: markets and neighbourhoods
Monterosso al Mare
The largest village, with a beach, the most restaurants and bakeries, and the anchovy tradition. Split between the old town and Fegina by the station.
Vernazza
Small harbour village with trattorias around the harbour square and focaccerie on the main street. Very crowded at midday in high season.
Manarola and Riomaggiore
The southern villages, with fried-fish shops, wine bars among the vineyards and harbour restaurants; good for an aperitivo at sunset.
Corniglia
The only village up on a hill, reached by stairs or a shuttle bus from the station; fewer crowds, a few small restaurants and wine bars.
La Spezia covered market (Piazza Cavour)
The city's main food market, with fish, produce, cheese and bakeries, and a better place for cheap farinata and focaccia than the villages.
Food tours in Cinque Terre compared
Every tour below is a real listing on GetYourGuide or Viator, checked on 2 Oct 2026. Prices move with season and group size, so treat them as a guide and confirm on the booking page.
| Tour | Length | Price* | Group | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volastra: BarCa Wine Tasting in Cinque Terre and Pesto Class | 2 hours | from €65 per person | — | Travellers who want to cook the dishes again at home; easiest option for dietary needs, since you control the ingredients. | Check dates |
| Levanto, Cinque terre: Fresh Pasta and Pesto cooking class | 3 hours | from €100 per person | max 6 | Travellers who want to cook the dishes again at home; easiest option for dietary needs, since you control the ingredients. | Check dates |
| Manarola: Cinque Terre Wine Tasting | 1 hour | from €33 per person | — | First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide. | Check dates |
| La Spezia: Taste Cinque Terre on a Full Meal Food Tour | 3 hours | from €85 per person | — | First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide. | Check dates |
| Cinque Terre: Wine & Food Tasting in Monterosso | 2 hours | from €70 per person | private | Couples, families or friends who want the route and pace set around them. | Check dates |
| Cinque terre wine tour and tasting with the somelier | 1.5 hours | from €69 per person | — | First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide. | Check dates |
Volastra: BarCa Wine Tasting in Cinque Terre and Pesto Class
On GetYourGuide · run by BarCa Wine Cinqueterre
- Length
- 2 hours
- Price
- from €65 per person
- Rating
- 4.8 ★ from 170 reviews (on 3 Oct 2026)
- Included
- Visit to the cellar Tasting of 3 glasses of wine (a white DOC, a Rosaluna rosé, and a Sarsaparilla red) Pesto-making lesson Focaccia
- Suits
- Travellers who want to cook the dishes again at home; easiest option for dietary needs, since you control the ingredients.
- Starts
- Via Montello, 304, 19017 Volastra SP, Italy
Levanto, Cinque terre: Fresh Pasta and Pesto cooking class
On GetYourGuide · run by da Ca Persa
- Length
- 3 hours
- Price
- from €100 per person
- Rating
- 5.0 ★ from 157 reviews (on 3 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- max 6
- Included
- Transfers Cooking class Aperitivo Lunch Wine pairing Recipes
- Suits
- Travellers who want to cook the dishes again at home; easiest option for dietary needs, since you control the ingredients.
- Starts
- Parcheggio | Stazione FS
Manarola: Cinque Terre Wine Tasting
On GetYourGuide · run by Arbaspaa Tour Organizer
- Length
- 1 hour
- Price
- from €33 per person
- Rating
- 4.6 ★ from 116 reviews (on 3 Oct 2026)
- Suits
- First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide.
La Spezia: Taste Cinque Terre on a Full Meal Food Tour
On GetYourGuide · run by Do Eat Better Experience
- Length
- 3 hours
- Price
- from €85 per person
- Rating
- 4.7 ★ from 55 reviews (on 3 Oct 2026)
- Suits
- First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide.
- Starts
- Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi, La Spezia SP, Italia
Cinque Terre: Wine & Food Tasting in Monterosso
On GetYourGuide · run by Enoteca Internazionale di Barbieri Susanna
- Length
- 2 hours
- Price
- from €70 per person
- Rating
- 4.6 ★ from 24 reviews (on 3 Oct 2026)
- Group size
- private
- Included
- Guided tasting of 5 Cinque Terre wines 5 traditional food pairings, specifically: 2 whites with focaccia, pesto, and anchovies 1 rosé paired with salted cod 1 red with selected local cheeses 1 Sciacchetrà (sweet wine…
- Suits
- Couples, families or friends who want the route and pace set around them.
- Starts
- Meet at the Enoteca Internazionale - Via Roma 62/66 - where our staff will be there to welcome you.
Cinque terre wine tour and tasting with the somelier
On GetYourGuide · run by Timonfaya Travel Lanzarote
- Length
- 1.5 hours
- Price
- from €69 per person
- Rating
- 4.9 ★ from 15 reviews (on 3 Oct 2026)
- Included
- Scenic guided walking tour through Manarola's vineyards Professional tasting session of 3 local Cinque Terre wines paired with Focaccia Guidance from a native expert sommelier Insights into local history and heroic wi…
- Suits
- First-timers who want a broad tasting of the classics with a local guide.
- Starts
- A Pié de Campu la focaccia
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Street food, sit-down or a cooking class?
Street food
Street food here means focaccia and farinata from bakeries, and fried seafood in a cone from take-away shops. It is the cheapest way to eat in the villages. There are few places to sit in the busiest spots, so expect to eat on a wall by the harbour.
Sit-down meals
Restaurants are small and fill quickly in summer; book for dinner, especially in Vernazza and Manarola. Many add a coperto (cover charge) of a few euros per person, which is legal if shown on the menu. Kitchens often close between lunch and dinner, roughly 15:00–19:00.
Cooking classes
Classes usually teach pesto made with a mortar and pestle, and sometimes fresh pasta or focaccia, often with a wine tasting. Some are held in the villages and some on farms or in La Spezia; check the meeting point and train times, since services between villages are frequent but crowded.
How much to budget for food
| Style | Per person, per day* |
|---|---|
| Budget (street food, markets) | €30–40 (focaccia, a fried seafood cone, a pasta lunch) |
| Mid-range (one sit-down meal a day) | €60–85 (two sit-down meals with a glass of local wine) |
| Splurge (tasting menus, wine) | €120+ (a seafood dinner with Cinque Terre wine and Sciacchetrà) |
Vegetarian, halal and gluten-free
Vegetarian & vegan: Easy. Pesto, focaccia, farinata, vegetable tarts (torta di verdure) and walnut-sauce pasta are meat-free. Traditional Parmigiano and Pecorino are made with animal rennet, so strict vegetarians should ask. Vegan options are fewer but farinata and plain focaccia are usually vegan.
Halal: Very limited. There is little or no halal-certified food in the villages; seafood and vegetarian dishes are the practical choice. La Spezia has a few kebab and Middle Eastern places.
Gluten-free: Italy has good coeliac awareness and many restaurants offer gluten-free pasta (senza glutine), some approved by the Italian Coeliac Association (AIC). Farinata is made from chickpea flour and is naturally gluten-free, but may be baked in shared ovens. Fried seafood is usually floured with wheat.
Food scams and tourist traps to avoid
- Harbour-front restaurants with picture menus in several languages, frozen seafood and high prices aimed at day-trippers. Check the menu for the asterisk marking frozen ingredients (prodotto surgelato) and walk a few streets up from the harbour.
- Fish of the day priced per 100 grams, ending up much more expensive than expected. Ask the weight and total price before the fish is cooked.
- Pesto and 'local' products in souvenir shops that are made industrially elsewhere. Read the label for producer and ingredients (real pesto genovese uses olive oil and pine nuts, not sunflower oil and cashews), or buy fresh from a deli.
Top tours & activities in Cinque Terre
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Staying near the markets saves time and taxi money — most food tours start in the old centre.
Common questions
Do I need to tip in the Cinque Terre?
Tipping is not expected in Italy. Many restaurants already charge a coperto (cover) of roughly €2–4 per person, which is shown on the menu. Leaving small change or rounding up for good service is common; 10% is generous. On a food tour, a small tip for the guide is appreciated but optional.
Do I need to book restaurants?
For dinner in high season (roughly May to September), yes, especially in Vernazza, Manarola and Riomaggiore, where restaurants are small. Lunch is easier but kitchens are crowded from 12:30 to 14:00. Many places close between lunch and dinner and some close one day a week or for winter, so check current hours.
Where is the cheapest place to eat?
Bakeries and focaccerie in each village, take-away fried seafood and picnic food from small grocery shops. For a cheaper sit-down meal and farinata, La Spezia is noticeably less expensive than the villages and only a short train ride from Riomaggiore.
What wine should I try?
The dry white Cinque Terre DOC, made mainly from Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino grapes grown on the steep terraces, is the local everyday wine. Sciacchetrà is the rare sweet wine made from dried grapes; production is small, so a glass is expensive. Some small producers offer tastings by appointment.
How much should I budget for food per day?
On a tight budget, about €30–40 covers focaccia, a fried seafood cone and a simple pasta lunch. A comfortable day with two sit-down meals and a glass of wine is roughly €60–85 per person. A seafood dinner with local wine can easily reach €70–100 per person on its own. Prices are higher than in most of Liguria.
Is pesto here different from what I get at home?
Usually yes. Ligurian pesto is made with young basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano and/or Pecorino and extra virgin olive oil, often pounded in a mortar. It is bright green and not cooked. Jar pesto often uses cheaper oil, cashews or potato flakes. Fresh pesto in tubs from a deli is the best thing to take home if you can keep it cold.
* Prices are approximate, gathered on 2 Oct 2026 from menus, markets and the booking pages linked above. They change with season and exchange rates.