The effort that must have taken to build these amazing towns on cliff sides and hill tops is reason enough to go see them. More often than not they are absolutely breathtaking. Also most overlook the sea to create that perfect postcard scene. We have got 5 of the best cliff side towns for you to add to your list.
1. Castellfollit de la Roca, Spain
Medieval Castellfollit de la Roca sits atop a 160 ft. volcanic cliff, in the Catalonian Pyrenees region. This 1,000 person village gets steady tourists but only few hotels, exactly the sort of place to calm your senses.
2. Manarola, Italy
The uber-colorful Italian village of Manarola is not the most precariously placed cliff-side but may be the most beautiful. The local specialty is Sciacchetrà, a sweet dessert wine that tastes of honey and apricots. Manarola is one of five villages in the Cinque Terre area of the Italian Riviera. The other four villages, not incidentally, have rather cool cliff-side locations as well.
3. Al Hajjarah, Yemen
The fortified clifftop center of the village was originally built by the Ottomans in the 11th century, partly for military purposes and partly to serve as a Muslim enclave for what was then a mostly Jewish village. Today, Al Hajjarah makes for a striking trekking destination.
4. Bonifacio, France
Bonifacio sits at the southern tip of the French island of Corsica. The town’s position, strung out along white limestone cliffs, not only overlooks one of the island’s best harbors but also the strategically significant straight that separates Corsica from rival island Sardinia. More recently tourism has been the force driving Bonifaciens to build holiday homes and B&Bs on the cliff’s edge where the view out across the Mediterranean Sea is rather spectacular.
5. Ronda, Spain
Ronda in fact sits upon two hilltops, only 68 meters (223 feet) apart but separated by the 120 meter (400 feet) deep El Tajo Gorge. Ever since the Celts first built Ronda it has been an issue how to bridge the two sections of town. The current bridge, called the Puente Nuevo (“new bridge”), took 42 years to build and was finally completed in 1793. It is as magnificent as the hill-top town.
Images: 500px.com