We caught up with our friend Caroline to hear how she literally lives La Dolce Vita on the Italian coast.
1) Tell us about yourself!
Ciao! I’m Caroline Cimino, also known as @rivieradreamer online. I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, but have called Italy home for the past ten years. I moved to Florence in 2014 to study Italian, and after graduating I settled in Cinque Terre, where I started my business in 2018. Thanks to my Italian great-grandfather I have dual citizenship, which makes it possible for me to live and work in Italy. For work, I lead bike tours along the coast a few mornings a week, teach Italian online, and guide small overnight tours in Cinque Terre several times a year. I’m also super passionate about creating content and love sharing my life in Italy with fellow Italy lovers online.
2) What inspired you to start a new life on the Italian Coast?
My love for Italy started with summers spent in Monterosso al Mare in Cinque Terre with my family. My mom had discovered Cinque Terre in college when she studied abroad in Florence and fell in love with the area. I felt pulled to Italy since my very first visit at just five years old and I believe it was my Italian roots calling me back. It wasn’t until I discovered my university in Florence that I finally found a way to make the move. At 19 years old, I started my life in Italy by pursuing my bachelor's degree in Italian language at Istituto Lorenzo de' Medici. After graduating, I didn’t hesitate to settle in Cinque Terre. With all the time I had spent there with my family, it felt like a second home to me. Plus as a beach and sunshine lover, Cinque Terre was the perfect place to plant my roots.
3) Tell us about your business!
I’ve always dreamed of being my own boss, and I’m incredibly grateful to have turned that dream into a reality. In my business I wear many hats: content creator, Italian teacher, private guide, travel consultant, and bike tour leader. My journey began in 2018 after spending four years nannying, waitressing, and cleaning Airbnbs in Cinque Terre. I was ready for a change, so I decided to start offering flat seaside bike tours along the Italian Riviera. The three-hour tours, which I host several mornings a week for small groups, quickly gained traction online through Airbnb Experiences.
When COVID hit in 2020 and tourism came to a halt, I had to pivot quickly. With no tourists to guide, I needed to find a new way to support myself. At the time, I had a small YouTube channel with around 2,000 subscribers, and I began offering private Italian lessons to them. It was a lifeline and I quickly found enough students to cover my rent and groceries. What started as a way to make ends meet grew into a new passion. Teaching Italian has since become one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. Nearly five years later, I’m still teaching, with a wonderful group of private students. In the past year, I expanded my offerings to include group courses, and I’ll be running my Five-Week Beginner’s Italian Crash Course again this winter. Many of my students have told me that I’m the first teacher who has truly helped them "click" with Italian, which brings me so much joy.
My biggest dream since college was to share my life in Italy through videos. I started my YouTube channel in 2015, posting regularly even when I wasn’t seeing much growth. But in 2022, I joined TikTok, and in 2023, one of my videos went viral, now with over 11 million views. That moment changed everything. I gained 100,000 followers overnight, attracting new students and connecting with a global community of Italy lovers. Not long after, I went viral on Facebook, where I now have over 215,000 followers, my largest platform. I feel so fortunate to have multiple ways to connect with my community online.
Another special part of my journey has been working alongside my mom. Together, we’ve been guiding small overnight group tours in Cinque Terre since 2017. My mom was one of the very first Americans to visit Cinque Terre in the 1980s, and she has formed a deep bond with the area and the locals who have called this place home for decades. Our tours allow us to offer a more intimate, personalized experience, showing our groups Cinque Terre "off the beaten path." I’m excited to announce that in 2025 I’ll be guiding a tour with my fiancé, Steven, for the very first time! It’s an exciting new chapter in our journey, and we can’t wait to share our love for Cinque Terre with people in a whole new way.
4) Italian drink of choice?
Aperol Spritz! There’s nothing better on a warm summer day in Italy than sipping an Aperol Spritz in the sunshine. I love the perfect balance of slight bitterness and sweet orange flavor, and I always finish by eating the fresh orange slice. Plus, it’s arguably the most photogenic drink out there. That bright orange color is hard to beat.
5) Favorite restaurant in Liguria?
Ristorante Ciak in Monterosso al Mare is probably my favorite restaurant not just in Liguria but in all of Italy. The food is out of this world. Their ravioli with shrimp sauce and mixed seafood risotto are my top picks, but honestly, everything on the menu is to die for.
6) Favorite town on the Italian Coast?
My answer always changes, but right now, I’d say Vernazza. It holds a special place in my heart, especially since I got engaged there this year. My fiancé, Steven, is also from Omaha, and we met during Christmas in Nebraska in 2021. He moved to Italy with me early last year, and now he’s navigating the 90-day rule (90 days in Italy, 90 days out), which means some long-distance until we get married in October 2025 and he gets his visa. We’re over the moon about our first apartment together in Italy, and during my off-season in Cinque Terre, we've been spending winters together in Omaha. It’s nice to be home for the holidays and I enjoy teaching my live group crash courses from January to March.
7) Favorite Italian saying?
"Il dolce far niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing) perfectly sums up some of my favorite moments in Italy. Whether I’m lying on a beach chair and listening to Italian families chat while I feel the warm sun on my skin, sipping an espresso while people-watching at my favorite local bar, or simply sitting at a viewpoint, soaking in the breathtaking beauty of Italy, those are the moments that make life in Italy so magical.
8) Go-to gelato flavor?
Stracciatella! It's chocolate chip with so many big chunks of chocolate in it which I love.
9) Best beach in Liguria?
My favorite beach is actually a local secret and I just might be banned from Liguria if I shared it with you! But seriously, there are some spots I keep private out of respect for the locals and to help preserve their beauty. That said, in Cinque Terre, Monterosso definitely has the best beaches.
10) Advice for other women pursuing their passions?
If you really want to do something, go for it and stay consistent. I posted online for eight years before my business really took off! It takes a lot of patience, but trust that it will happen if you keep building. Just make sure it's something you truly love and enjoy because once it takes off, the work doesn’t stop, it multiplies. There's no better feeling than succeeding at something you're passionate about. Remember, life moves forward whether you’re building someone else’s dream or your own. The choice is yours on how you spend that time!
Comments