Day 29 – Hiking Cinque Terre

Where we are staying in Italy at the moment is called the Cinque Terre. It is a group of 5 little villages all hugging the coast of Italy. All with their unique attributes.

We are bias – we quite like the village we have chosen – Riomaggorie.

All the villages are accessed via the train line that links all 5 villages.

The train line is mostly underground – popping out to give you fleeting glimpses of the ocean.

Today is the first day we adventure out to the other villages. We catch a train from Riomaggorie to Monterosso.

Monterosso – the Northern most village – and perhaps more like a normal town flatter terrain and a bit more open, cars etc – great location.

We are hiking from Monterosso to Vernazza and the onto Corniglia – along with lots of other tourists. Seems they close the walking trail on a regular basis – because of bad weather.

We start hiking – not quite sure of the starting point of the trail.

We have bought a Cinque Terre pass – allowing you to travel on the trains and walk the trails. We come to the first check point of the trails. Oh you don’t need to show pass oh and other’s don’t need to buy a pass … it is too early… nothing in the guide book about that…Italian way.

So pretty walking the coast of Italy – many up, many downs. We arrive in Vernazza – very pretty – very busy – great place for a swim and lunch. Many many tourists here – appear to be from a cruise ship.

Next stop, after an hour or so walk, Corniglia. Corniglia, is perched on the side of the mountain and does not go all the way down to the water. Colourful houses and a lot quieter, it is much harder to access the town as the train line is at water level and there is a large staircase (150 massive steps or a bus shuttle) to access the town. Not quite prime location for tourists with luggage.

It has been quite hot walking – so we catch the train back to Riomaggorie for a swim.

We have heard that sunsets in Manarola are quite spectactular – town faces west and there are good vantage points to photograph town as the sun sets.

We travel to Manarola, by train, for the sunset photos and have a fantastic meal at one of the local restaurants.