{"id":27489,"date":"2013-08-05T15:48:30","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T20:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=27489"},"modified":"2018-03-05T12:58:39","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T18:58:39","slug":"hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/","title":{"rendered":"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Manarola\"

Manarola is one of Italy’s famous Cinque Terre towns. Photo: iStockphoto<\/p><\/div>\n

Any good vacation involves some kicking back and taking the sights. If hilltop towns and cliffside villages\u2014like these\u2014are part of the mix, you won\u2019t have to work too hard.<\/p>\n

The Tuscan hill town of Cortona<\/a>\u2014the inspiration for Francis Mayes\u2019 Under the Tuscan Sun<\/em>\u2014is enclosed by 3,000-year-old Etruscan walls and punctuated by steep, narrow streets, with memorable medieval architecture. After hiking up Chiesa di Santa Margherita and taking panoramic views, visit its Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca to learn about Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian civilizations.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Italy<\/a>, the small town of Manarola, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is not to be missed. Here, pastel homes are perched precariously on soaring cliffs and fringed by verdant vineyards. But pack your walking shoes, since it\u2019s a car-free locale.<\/p>\n

The medieval city of Rocamadour<\/a> in southwest France\u2019s Midi-Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es seemingly springs from a cliff. Situated on the Camino de\u00a0Santiago pilgrimage route, overlooking a gorge above a tributary of the River Dordogne. Marked by monastic buildings and pilgrimage churches, these days it\u2019s widely recognized for producing superior goat\u2019s milk cheese.<\/p>\n

Then again, for ambiance it\u2019s hard to beat Lisbon<\/a>. Tucked into rambling hills along the Tagus River, the city features abounds with views of its iconic, pastel-hued architecture. While there, absorb the tropical flora at the jawdroppingly pretty Jardim do Ultramar, and grab pastries from Past\u00e9is de Bel\u00e9m.<\/p>\n

Of course, you don\u2019t have to travel far for beauty: just make your way to California\u2019s Big Sur<\/a> and, specifically, the McWay Waterfall Trail in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.The journey rewards you with the thunderous, 80-foot falls and coastal views from golden, sandy shores.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scenic vistas abound in Italy, Lisbon and Big Sur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":27495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1856],"class_list":["post-27489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-destinations-2"],"acf":{"api_active":null,"api_title":null,"api_excerpt":null,"api_featured_image":null,"api_lob":null},"posts_api_cpm_point":[{"name":"","description":"","thumbnail":"","address":"52044 Cortona, Province of Arezzo, Italy","latitude":"43.27506340000001","longitude":"11.985120000000052","icon":"\/images\/icons\/marker.png"}],"yoast_head":"\nHilltop towns and cliffside villages | Orbitz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages | Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scenic vistas abound in Italy, Lisbon and Big Sur.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Orbitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-05T20:48:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-05T18:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Olvera\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orbitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orbitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Olvera\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Olvera\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4148128b2e7162d94ae9d3d7e9c5602\"},\"headline\":\"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-05T20:48:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-05T18:58:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\"},\"wordCount\":309,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"destinations\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\",\"name\":\"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages | Orbitz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-05T20:48:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-05T18:58:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4148128b2e7162d94ae9d3d7e9c5602\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":333,\"caption\":\"Manarola TKTK. Photo: iStockphogo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Orbitz\",\"description\":\"Travel Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4148128b2e7162d94ae9d3d7e9c5602\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Olvera\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Olvera\"},\"description\":\"Jennifer Olvera is a culinary travel writer, recipe developer and author of Food Lovers\u2019 Guide to Chicago. Find her on Twitter at @olverajennifer.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/author\/jolvera\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages | Orbitz","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages | Orbitz","og_description":"Scenic vistas abound in Italy, Lisbon and Big Sur.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/","og_site_name":"Orbitz","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Orbitz\/","article_published_time":"2013-08-05T20:48:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-05T18:58:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg","width":500,"height":333,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jennifer Olvera","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orbitz","twitter_site":"@orbitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Olvera","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/"},"author":{"name":"Jennifer Olvera","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4148128b2e7162d94ae9d3d7e9c5602"},"headline":"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages","datePublished":"2013-08-05T20:48:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-05T18:58:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/"},"wordCount":309,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg","keywords":["destinations"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/","name":"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages | Orbitz","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg","datePublished":"2013-08-05T20:48:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-05T18:58:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4148128b2e7162d94ae9d3d7e9c5602"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg","width":500,"height":333,"caption":"Manarola TKTK. Photo: iStockphogo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/hilltop-towns-and-cliffside-villages\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hilltop towns and cliffside villages"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/","name":"Orbitz","description":"Travel Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4148128b2e7162d94ae9d3d7e9c5602","name":"Jennifer Olvera","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/orbitz-logo2-150x150.png","caption":"Jennifer Olvera"},"description":"Jennifer Olvera is a culinary travel writer, recipe developer and author of Food Lovers\u2019 Guide to Chicago. Find her on Twitter at @olverajennifer.","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/author\/jolvera\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/manarola.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}