Cinque Terre – A Beautiful Stretch Along Italy’s Coast

We roll into Le Spezia where we connect with a local train into Riomaggiore, our home base in Cinque Terre for the next several days. We meet Giacomo at a store front that serves as the reception desk of our "hotel." We say our hellos, check in, and then follow him as he leads us up the street to an apartment building, up serval flights of steps, and into our room, or should I say our apartment. This is not a hotel, but one of several rooms in a mid-block building. It is very nice though, and is one of a few with a balcony that we soon enjoy overlooking the busy people-filled street below.

"Cinque Terre" means Five Lands. The "lands" referred to are five villages and their surrounding areas all linked by ancient trails, now also linked by a rail line and a few one lane roads, all hugging tightly to the Mediterranean coast. Many tourists come just to see the villages, shop in their stores, and eat in their restaurants. A smaller number, but still significant, come to trek and hike the trails.

After awaking from a refreshing night’s sleep, we catch a local train north to Monterosso. From there, we plan to hike back to Riomaggiore, a 7mile, 5 hour hike along the coast. The weather has been sketchy, with heavy rain before sunrise and more forecasted throughout the day. But we start with cloudy, yet dry skies.

We stop at the national park desk to get out daily hiking permit. We're told they're not selling them today because the trail is too slick and dangerous to walk on. But, they say, if you want to proceed at your own risk, well, then have at it.

So we decide to have at it, and begin our trek south.  We're not alone. Many others decided to forgo the warnings and are on the trail with us. The trail is indeed slick. Our walking sticks save us from injurious falls and slips.

From Monterossa, we walk toward Vernazza, perhaps the prettiest of the five Cinque Terre towns. As we approach the third town, Corniglia, it starts to pour. From here, the maps show the trail is closed due to past landslides. We walk down the trail to check it out anyway and, sure enough, the path is blocked at a big washed out area.

It is getting late. A detour route would take us up into the mountains, with the time to do so likely requiring us to finish in the dark. So, we instead board a train and move on to Manarosa where we have the best dinner of our entire Italian vacation.

It is dark and nearing 8p.m. when we roll into Riomaggiore.  We buy some groceries for our trail lunches for the next couple of days, head to our room, shower, and hit the sack.

Another cloudy morning greets us as we walk to the end of our village's road. It is here that the trail starts for our seven mile adventure south toward Portovenere. Others were up early with us, but we all kept a respectful distance apart so as to not infringe on each other's solitude and quiet enjoyment of the trail.

The first part of the trail is an old pilgrimage route from town up to a sanctuary on the mountain above. The departing clouds allows for tremendous views of the ocean stretching out before us flanked by the rugged shoreline in the foreground.

Past vineyards and lemon groves we walk. At times the trail is an easy one, following the contours along the side of the ridge, created in part by the wine growers of the region. At other times, the trail becomes a rugged climb up rocks and boulders as we change elevations. A small clearing at the top of the ridge serves as a picnic area with a small refreshment stand where we stop for a soda and piece of lemon flavored pie.

By 1p.m., we arrive at the small village of Campiglia where we stop for lunch, sitting on a bench next to a small church and cemetery while overlooking the ocean. Others who were behind us on the trail have caught up to us at this point and do the same thing.

Refreshed, we continue down the trail, which has turned very rugged. Thankfully though, the rock surface is made of sandstone and limestone, which gives a much better purchase than the slippery slate we walked on in previous days.

Views become even more spectacular as we move on. The end of the peninsula on which we have been walking comes into view. The trail hugs the edge of limestone cliffs. Boats far below motor along, their engines barely audible. Sea birds screech as they fly in and out of their nests perched in the rock face.

After a long and tiring descent into Portovenere, the town's medieval castle comes into view, a welcoming site after a long day's hike. At the ferry dock, we learn that the boat schedule back to Riomaggiore is different than that which is published, with the last boat leaving at 4:30 instead of 5:00.  We male it just in time to catch this boat for the scenic 45 minute ride back to town.

Instead of going directly to our Riomaggiore room, we take the train to Manarosa where we have dinner at the same place as last night, a place where we are having the best meals of our trip.

Rain is forecasted all day on our following day. I want to spend our last day hiking on the trails up in the adjacent hills. MK wants to spend the day taking the train and touring the villages. So, like any good marriage, we compromise and take the train and tour the villages.

To be honest, after awhile, all of the villages start to look the same - the same types of shops, the same types of restaurants, the same quaint, narrow roads. If there are any difference, it would be of their "scene" as viewed from the adjacent harbors or from up in the hills. For each town's layout is somewhat unique where the street patterns and building arrangements are forced to adapt to the different geography of their local cliffs and valleys.

By late afternoon, we are back to our room. The remaining daylight allows us to enjoy sitting on our balcony one last time before our early morning departure tomorrow.

A video of Cinque Terre and other portions of our Italy trip can be seen at this following link: