Exploring Cinque Terre: Five Villages, One Unforgettable Day – By Andy

My turn for a disclaimer… unlike Zoe I am not an English teacher nor do I have a journalism degree. She reads in books per minute, not words per minute, whereas I have the reading speed of a brightish toddler. But I hope that what I lack in writing style and substance, I make up for in a little humour.

I hope you’re enjoying our journey so far. Our writing is lagging a little behind our travels—while I’m writing about day 8, we’re actually on day 23, sitting in Salerno. But we’ll catch up, once we actually start our slower travel, but for now, we’re soaking up the experiences and trying to capture our journey in notes and photos.

Setting Off: Planning the Perfect Cinque Terre Itinerary

“Today” we’re embarking on real bucket list stuff, a visit to five of the prettiest Italian Riviera villages, a national park listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site, a dream destination for holidaymakers and hardened hikers alike.

In each of the five towns of the Cinque Terre, colourful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbours are filled with fishing boats and restaurants turn out seafood specialties. The Sentiero Azzurro cliffside hiking trail links the villages and offers sweeping sea vistas.

This day started 24 hours in advance with my meticulous research of the open hiking trails between the villages, the rail card that allows you to hop on and off the trains between and blogs on which order is best. I was raring to go.

From Rapallo, we could have easily opted for the train to La Spezia, starting at Riomaggiore and heading north finishing in Monterosso, but we had read that the sunset in Riomaggiore was pretty spectacular. Zoe, always in search of a good sunset, took no persuading at all that the North to South route was the better option.

So, direct train from our excellent basecamp in Rapallo to Monterosso, it was. We made an early-for-us start, jumping on a train at just gone 8am in order to make a start at just gone 9. It’s nice to get little reminders of home as you travel – today, the familiarity of indecipherable train announcements. Yes, they were in Italian, but I assure you even the Italians were struggling to make this out, sounded more like Darlek.

With 288,434 steps (227.1 km) in our legs over the first 7 days, we were looking for the easier hiking routes. However, the Vernazza to Corniglia route was closed due to a landslide, which was a bit of a shame as it’s just 1.5 hours and medium difficulty. This left two obvious trails, the first Monterosso to Vernazza (3.6km, 2hrs, medium difficulty) and the last Manorola to Riomaggiore (1.8km, 1hr, medium/difficult).

Our decision? Start with the first and see how we go.

First Impressions of Monterosso: A Tale of Two Villages

We arrive in Monterosso incredibly overdressed, our mothers’ advice ringing in our ears “better to have and not need, than need and not have”. It was supposedly 3 degrees when we left Rapallo, 10 degrees by the time we reached Monterosso but with the sun shining it felt like 20.

Shedding our jackets, we start exploring Monterosso. It’s a little confusing, the town looks far less picturesque than the images online. Is this some sort of charming Italian trick? Or had my meticulous research failed to uncover that Monterosso is split in two?

It turns out, the train station resides in the first part of town, most of the images you see online are of the second part separated by a headland and therefore out of sight. Don’t get me wrong, the first part of Monterosso seems nice, a nice beach, plenty of parking, but it’s not quite what we’d signed up for.

Spotting far more prepared hikers, the pole wielding types, we decide to follow them. As we round the headland, the “real” Monterosso comes into view, smaller, more quaint than its big sister in the next bay. We wander into the back streets, buying postcards and fridge magnet bottle opener. My friend and I have been exchanging these for years — he’s in for a super haul from these four months. He might need another fridge!

Keen to start the hike, and the pole wielders far out of sight already, we head to the other end of the village, following what we assume to be the path to Vernazza. Wandering into the grounds of an exclusive hotel, we realise we’ve again made an error, a quick back track and we find the rugged path leading off the asphalted road.

The Hike to Vernazza: Worth Every Step

We quickly realise that while this hike is rated ‘medium difficulty,’ that’s a rather subjective measure – it might not be for everyone. Our parents would struggle, and we see several on the route equally struggling.

Whilst we are unprepared novice hikers, we are at least in appropriate footwear, the trail is adorned with signs stating it is illegal to hike the trail in flip flops or stilettos. We discuss how stupid you’d have to be to try the hike in either. I consider one of my friends who’d likely give it a go… in flip flops, not stilettos, although maybe both.

We glance back at Monterosso, capturing the picture-perfect view that graces any Google search of its name. It’s pretty special, but probably not our favourite by the end of the day.

As we climb, the trail gets tougher, the steps more numerous and ruggedly built. The steep coastline descends one side of us as the trees and vineyards get denser the other side. Zoe quickly decides this is our only hike of the day. (Note: Zoe is sat next to me saying it’s not fair that I make her sound like the lazy one, but those are the breaks if we take it in turns writing… “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story”)

Some athletic types come bounding past us, a couple of blokes half our age and at least half my body fat %! We expect they’re trying for some sort of record between towns or maybe have a lunch booking, either way, good luck to them.

We then catch up to an older couple, the lady using poles very much for support not for the hiker-look. It looks like one hell of a struggle for her, but she’s patiently letting people pass, and slowly step by step making her way towards her less than patient male companion. It’s not an easy hike, we later see a very large overweight man attempting it huffing and puffing, seemingly a short steep hill away from a heart attack. Again, good luck to them, but I wouldn’t recommend it to either of them knowing what I know now.

Vernazza: The View That Stole the Show

We realise Vernazza is coming into view ahead as we hear a “wow, beautiful!”. And they weren’t wrong. The hike was worth every step for that view down into this village. Utterly stunning. The harbour with the church, the tower, the colourful houses, just perfect!

The village is small, we very quickly see what there is to be seen, make our way to the harbour wall and stop briefly to take in the beauty of the village whilst scoffing the rolls we pilfered from breakfast. All with the backdrop of just a handful of Korean tourists on a photoshoot.

We check the trains, and have just 10 minutes to make it through to the station. We make it in 3, Vernazza isn’t exactly sprawling! Onwards to Corniglia.

Corniglia: A Hilltop Gem Above the Sea

Corniglia is a little different from the other villages in Cinque Terre, in that it is not really a fishing village, it’s up on a cliff top. But don’t let this be a reason for it to be the town you skip. It’s stunning in its own way, majestically positioned on a hilltop. It has some cute streets, a lofty playground and some great views further up the hillsides to other hilltop towns, out to sea and on to the next town of Manorola.

Vernazza to Corniglia is hikeable, I presume the terrain similar to our hike to Vernazza, but it was closed, so we had to get a train. Be warned the train station is down the hill. There is a shuttle bus, included in your Cinque Terre card if you buy one, that runs about every 20 minutes, we luckily arrive just as the bus driver opened the doors, so decided to save our legs the effort of the steps. We did get to experience these steps going down to the station, we definitely made the right decision.

Manarola: Dolphins, Clifftop Houses, and Postcard Views

The train station in Manorola is at the top of town, there’s one road that leads down to the picturesque harbour. There’s a walkway around the bay, perfect for taking photos and inevitable selfies back of the village. The village sprawls from harbour side up and perches on the clifftop. Not for the first time we marvel at the nerve of the first people to build on those cliffs and the engineering feat to pull it off.

As we are heading to the station, Zoe senses that there’s a little commotion, and it’s not that they’re sad to see us leave.

A small crowd has gathered, and for good reason — dolphins are playing just offshore, it looks like they’re having a whale of a time! Before moving on, we take a moment to witness the dolphins majestically playing, entertaining the crowd gathered around the harbour. What a treat!

Riomaggiore: Sunset, Snacks, and a Near-Miss at the Station

The train station in Riomaggiore is slightly before the village. There’s a tunnel from the station, which they’ve decorated to feel like you’re under the sea, a nice touch. The tunnel pops you out in the middle of the village, up over some steps to take you down to the harbour or up the street to see more of the town. We head to the harbour.

I get distracted by a pirate flag, but more about that another time. After deliberating which bar to stop at we decide that photos need to be taken first before the light leaves the colourful harbour. Moving round to it’s left-hand side if looking out to sea you get a great photo back of the village, the iconic shot. It’s beautiful.

I explore a little round the bay leaving Zoe admiring my athletic prowess taking on yet more steps. (“never let the truth get in the way of a good story”). There’s a nice secluded beach, which at the right time of day is a beautiful suntrap. I explore down to the harbour to get an even better photo back of the town before rejoining my well rested companion.

We go in search of a drink. Unfortunately, one bar is closing, another won’t let us sit in the sun at a table of four despite nobody else being at the bar at all, and so we move on up into the village. Whilst beautiful and quaint, not a lot is open, but we find a bar with local wine and space to rest our weary feet.

We consider our favourite town, without a doubt, the view of Vernazza for us both. The other villages are stunning but that view down on Vernazza was something special. Now, we may be doing the others a disservice, as we didn’t approach them on foot, but from this trip Vernazza won the day.

One of the great things about a lot of Italy, you stop for a drink, and you get fed. After polishing off far too many unhealthy snacks, we order more drinks, only to be delivered yet more snacks, Italians are very generous like that. Pick the right Italian place in London and you get the same treatment. Small bowls of snacks that in your local gastro-pub will cost you £3.50, but for free, because that’s just the way it’s done.

We’re ready to head home to properly take the weight off, but we’ve mistimed the trains, another fragility in my meticulous planning. However, this turns out to be a little slice of serendipity.

With time to spare, we amble to the station and find that at the end of the platform there’s an open gate to a walkway from which, there’s a great view of the setting sun. What a fantastic end to a day exploring Cinque Terre.

Unfortunately, our peace was short-lived, first by a group of kids and then by a large group of enthusiastic Japanese tourists. With our once-hidden viewpoint now buzzing with visitors, we quietly retreat to the platform to wait for our train.

As we quietly and patiently wait for our train, the returning Japanese go full kamikaze and attempt to cross the railway tracks to the other platform, fortunately some locals are alive to the situation and pull them back. A very serious accident avoided, we board our train and head back to our Rapallo basecamp for our final night.

Cinque Terre Belongs on Your Bucket List

Without a doubt, we’d return — next time, maybe tackling even more of the hiking trails.

The Cinque Terre is a special UNESCO site, one which should be on everybody’s bucket list.

Top tips:

1. Use this brilliant website to check out more about the hiking trails whether they’re open etc – https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com
   
   
   
2. Buy a Cinque Terre Train Card – covers all train travel between the villages and as we discovered, the shuttle bus from train station to Corniglia. You can buy this at stations, or if you want an electronic online option, try this link, choosing the ‘Multi-service cards’ tab – Link to Trenitalia Advanced Search Multi-Service Tab 
   
   
   
3. Follow us on instagram @a2z.wander