Manarola, Italy — A yellow bell tower that warned of pirates in past centuries stands sentinel in Italy’s seaside village of Manarola. A bit farther down the hill in a town is a house with a water-wheel, which gives the town its name in the local dialect.

The sunny walk across the hillside above town is spread with olive groves and vineyards of glistening green grapes.

But the refreshment comes where the main street of Via Renato Birolli spills into the town’s rocky harbor, offering deep-water swimming in the clear blue water.

Manarola is one of five villages known as Cinque Terre along Italy’s northwest coast. While the region’s name means “five lands,” it may as well translate as “many steps.”

Each village has a permanent population measured in hundreds rather than thousands. Each has places to stay, shops to browse and restaurants to enjoy abundant local seafood.

After dwelling in isolation until a century ago, the towns are now linked by hiking trails and a railroad line. A visit offers the opportunity to sample the sandy beach in one town, a ceramic shop in another and the seafood risotto in another – all in one day.

Restaurants tend to display the day’s catch from the shimmering Ligurian Sea next to the door with the menus. At the family-run Via Venti, on a side street in Monterosso, giant shrimp sprawl on a bed of ice awaiting the grill. Around the corner, at Al Pozzo, the sea bass are propped up on the ice as if leaping for their own dinner.

The towns, a three- or four-hour train ride from Milan, each have their own character. The northernmost village of Monterosso has the sandy beach. Next is picturesque Vernazza, with round harbor guarding pastel buildings. Corniglia is perched highest above the water. Manarola has deep-water swimming. And the anchor of Riomaggiore feels less touristy than the rest.