Top 10 Most Medieval Towns & Cities In the World (2 of 6)

Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre is technically five little villages (hence the name), but together they’re one long medieval dream clinging to the cliffs of the Italian Riviera. The houses are painted every bright color imaginable, stacked like Lego bricks above tiny harbors and rocky coves.

Back in the Middle Ages, defensive towers and walls helped protect these towns from pirates. Today, people use those same paths and terraces to stroll between villages, sip wine, enjoy the sea breeze, and adorn everything with pesto.

Mont Saint Michel, France

Mont Saint Michel is the kind of place that makes you question whether you’re dreaming or not because there’s no way human brains designed and built this. It’s a tiny village and an abbey perched on a rocky island off France’s northern coast, with only a few dozen residents.

For hundreds of years, access to the village and abbey was limited to low tide, ensuring its coziness and timeless charm. Then we learned to build roads, and now getting here is the easy part. On the inside, however, you’d better be prepared to do some cardio because it’s basically a town of staircases. Disney even used it as inspiration in “Tangled,” and that’s precisely what it feels like up close.