Cinque Terra, Italy

mike: We reached our next destination, Cinque Terra, by train from Nice. Cinque Terra is a region along the northwestern coast of Italy with five small towns huging the rocky coastline and linked by hiking trails and railway. Car access is very limited so each town offers a peaceful atmosphere. Vernazza, our choice, is arguably the most romantic and picturesque of the five. The area is very popular with tourist, particularly Americans. Most we spoke with discovered Cinque Terra through Rick Steve's travel guides who raves about its uniqueness.


On the following morning we took the train south to Riomaggiore with the plan to hike back to Vernazza.

The first stretch from Riomaggiore to Manarola, behind Trin, is a spectacular trail wrapping along a cliff above the breaking Mediterranean waves.

All of the towns share a similar color palette with each house different from its immediate neighbor. During peak season (June-Aug) the rocks behind us would be packed with swimmers and sunbathers.

Everything was going great until we discovered the trail between Manarola and Corniglia was closed so we ended up wondering around trying to find the alternate inland trail(6D), running into several people in the same predicament, before eventually resorting to the train to Corniglia.

Corniglia in the foreground and Manarola in the distance.

Almost home, looking down at Vernazza. Five hours is the estimated hiking time to cover the 11 miles from the first to last town when everything is open.

Nice cool big beer in the Vernazza plaza. Dinner was tasty pesto smothered pasta.

On the following day we hiked north to Monterosso, the last town to visit.

Looking down at Vernazza. The plaza at the back of the harbor is where we enjoyed the post hike beer yesterday.

The trail leading down into Monterosso.

Trin in the Vernazza Plaza. All of the local's boats were stored in the harbor due to rough seas.

We diverged from pesto and enjoyed some very fresh fish.