Cinque Terre photography tour

The Cinque Terre’s sun-faded villages are strung along a cliffside of terraced vineyards and rise vertically above rocks that plummet into the deep turquoise waters of the Ligurian Sea. On this half-day tour, you’ll learn to capture the area’s worn beauty and natural panoramas with a professional photographer. You’ll bring home frame-worthy photographs to remember the trip by, as you hone your technical and artistic skills — find unusual angles, improve your composition and experiment with how to take advantage of the endless, clear light that has long made the Italian Riviera a destination for artists of all sorts.

An assistant will meet you at your hotel and escort you onto the ferry for Manarola, the second of the five villages that make up this UNESCO World Heritage Site. High above the sea, Manarola is surrounded by a paved path that offers sweeping views over both the sea and the village’s bright pastel buildings.

Your guide, a local photographer, will lead you through the tight alleyways and up the open coastal paths, helping you to frame memorable shots along the way.

Depending on your personal preference, you can choose to photograph the plummeting cliffs, the wide sea, the terraced vineyards or the bright-but-peeling buildings. At each step, your guide can offer suggestions to help you make the most out of your surroundings as well as your equipment.

Although you’re welcome to bring any sort of camera, from cell phone to DSLR, one of the benefits of working with a professional photographer is the chance to make the most of your camera equipment. Because of this, you might get more out of the tour if you have a more complicated, powerful camera.

At the end of the tour, you’ll sit down with the photographer in a local café for a drink. There, you can discuss and review your photographs and get advice on cropping and other editing options.

Ferries stop running in the early evening in the Cinque Terre, so your driver will meet you to take you back to Porto Venere by car.