Photo spot in Cinque Terre
The Terrazza di Santa Maria at Corniglia
A small stone belvedere on the only village of the five that has no harbour, a hundred metres straight above the sea.
About The Terrazza di Santa Maria at Corniglia
Get directionsCorniglia sits on top of a promontory rather than at the water's edge, which is why it is the quietest of the five villages: from the station there are three hundred and eighty steps, the Lardarina, or a shuttle bus. Most day visitors skip it, and that is precisely the argument for shooting here.
The Terrazza di Santa Maria is at the seaward end of the village, a stone platform with a railing and a bench. The drop below is sheer, the coast runs away north towards Vernazza and Monterosso and south towards Manarola, and the vineyard terraces climb the slope behind. Because you are high and clear of buildings, this is the frame where the whole coastline reads as a sequence of headlands, which the lower villages cannot give you.
It faces west, so it is a sunset terrace, and a small one — a handful of people fills it. Corniglia's lanes on the way there are narrow, shaded and largely free of shopfronts, which makes them the best walking backgrounds in the Cinque Terre. Bring an option for wind: the terrace is exposed and it can be blowing hard here when the harbours below are calm.
Best time to shoot
Sunset, facing west along the coast
Tips
380 steps up from the station or take the shuttle bus. The terrace is small and exposed — plan for wind and for only a few people at a time.
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Real reviews from Cinque Terre photoshoots
Martina B.
Much more than a photographer — where his photographs end, the memories begin! I've known Marco Miglianti since I was a child. He photographed my First Communion and my Confirmation, so when the time came to choose a photographer for our…
Marco M.
Photographer
Juliette Z.
Choosing the photographer is without doubt one of the most important — and most difficult — decisions for such a unique day. You want someone talented, reliable, discreet yet present, who can capture the essence of the moment… and with…
Marco M.
Photographer
Other spots in Cinque Terre
Manarola from Punta Bonfiglio at blue hour
The postcard of the Cinque Terre — coloured houses stacked on a black rock above a boat ramp, seen from the headland across the inlet.
Vernazza from the Doria castle
A round watchtower above the harbour, looking down on the only natural port in the Cinque Terre and the church built on the rocks.
Riomaggiore harbour slipway at sunset
A concrete ramp between two rock walls where the fishing boats are pulled up in the street, with the village stacked behind them.
Il Gigante and the Fegina beach at Monterosso
A fourteen-metre concrete statue of Neptune holding up a ruined terrace at the end of the only real sand beach in the Cinque Terre.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The Terrazza di Santa Maria at Corniglia — free of charge.