We love San Vincenzo. Friendly people, nice restaurants, wonderful landscape around the area. And…read morethen this beach! This beach is one of the reasons we love to come here. We always stay in town right after Easter. Temperatures are quite nice at that time (with some rainy days between) and the town and its beach are very empty. A bunch of visitors on weekends. But on weekdays there are times where you really have to beach for yourself. And it's a nice beach. Goes on for miles. Nice and clean. The water is pretty cold around this time of year though. But we love having some long walks on the sand. And we always bring our dog with. Which is fine in off-season (no way to do that in summer season). Around town there are a bunch of restaurants on the beach (some still closed in spring) and public access everywhere. But further north you go, the more quiet it gets. Very nice if you look for some peace and quiet like us. If you look for some bustle and hustle you should come back for summer I guess. We just love it here. Impressed by the nice and clean stretch of sand and the views...and sunsets over the ocean. A great place to be.

This is the beach Sofia Loren and Marcello Mastrianni used to hang out on in the 50s. It's got…read morestriped umbrellas, rocks to climb on and a great sunset view...go here for the nostalgia more than to be wow'ed...its clean and nice and all that but the charm is it's history. In Italians' hearts this is a special place. Castiglioncello is pricey and still hanging on to it's hey day but check out the massive villas still the second homes of Italy's rich, and, the gelato from one of the many gelateria's is good. The gran cafe Gino's at the fork in the road at the centre of the village is famous, they have good panetone around Christmas too!

Wonderful place for families and couples to enjoy. Tips: Smorfia pizzeria is the best pizza I've…read moreever had. The guy selling coconuts on the beach is a scam artist. The ATMs all try to trick you into paying a 6-14% conversion fee. Just hit decline and pay the $5 fee. Stay away from Euronet ATM machines everywhere in Europe. Terrible. But yes Monterosso Al Mare is a beautiful place with incredible food, people, swimming, and activities.

We visited on 4/2/26, days before the Easter weekend, It was still fairly cool and almost no one…read morearound as it was early in the season , but it is easy to see that this is the most accessible sandy beach in the Cinque Terre. No chaises or umbrella's were out yet, but we sat at Bar Gigantic and also enjoyed the small church across from the water. We did not explore too much as our train was leaving back to Milan. Cute shops. The shore is directly off of the train.