Whirlwind Tour of Italy: Cinque Terre, Day 3

We spent our last full day in Italy in the Cinque Terre National Park on the Northwest coast. It is a protected area in Italy, so no new development is allowed, preserving the beautiful landscape and the quaint little fishing villages that line the coast. The park is well known for its fantastic hiking. There is a hiking trail that connects the main five villages of the Cinque Terre; aside from this trail, the only direct means of transportation between the villages is train and ferry boat.


The hiking in the Cinque Terre came highly recommended from a friend (thanks Simon!), so we decided to make the trek from the northern most village where we were staying (Montorosso) to the southern most village (Riomaggiore).

Before setting out on the 9 mile hike, we fueled up with some breakfast and coffee. Not far from our hotel, we found the most amazing little local, family run bakery. The business was split with the kitchen on one side of a narrow side street and the shop on the other. We got there quite early and ordered cappuccino while we watched the mother and father carry tray after tray full of pastries, straight from the oven, from the kitchen across the street to the display cases in the shop. The warm, apple-filled croissants were absolutely amazing!

After filling up on pastries, we headed out for the hike. Here are my mom and Jason after the steep initial climb out of Montorosso. It was about here that my mom decided she'd go back to the room, meet up with my dad, and they'd take the ferry down to Rimaggiore to met us.


I should mention that I am extremely disappointed with my pictures from this day of our trip. We were hiking in the morning when the sun was still rising and casting a significant glare off of the ocean. On top of that, there was a haze that had settled in along the coast that made taking pictures even more difficult. The point is, these pictures do not do the Cinque Terre justice; it was so amazing beautiful, yet frustratingly impossible to capture! On a positive note, we were blessed with fantastic weather including 70 degree temperatures.

Much of the trail led through vineyards grown in the mountain walls using terraces. To help ease the difficulty of caring for crops placed in such steep, hard to reach areas, mono-rails such as this one crisscrossed the vineyards and carried small baskets used to transport workers, tools, and the harvest up and down the mountain face.


The trail also included lots of neat tunnels and bridges.


As we hiked, we climbed higher and higher out of Montorosso on our way to Vernazza.


Sun rise was beautiful!


After walking for about an hour and a half, we finally arrived at the next village, Vernazza.


We took a short break in Vernazza for a snack before continuing on toward Corniglia. A few minutes out of the village, we stopped to enjoy this lookout from which we could Vernazza and, way in the distance, our starting point, Montorosso.


Because the trail didn't pass directly through Corniglia, I wasn't able to get a very good picture of it during our hike. This is the village from the ferry on our way back:


After passing Corniglia and heading on toward Manarolo, we had the option to take a detour up to the village of San Bernardino, but we decided that 9 miles was enough for one day and this view would have to suffice.


Just before reaching Manarolo, we passed through this portion of the park that had been destroyed by a summer fire. It was really kind of eerie to pass into after coming from such thick vegetation.


Just a bit further on, we reached Manarolo.


The last portion of the trail, connecting Manarolo to Riomaggiore, is known as Via dell Amore (Way of Lovers). In stark contrast to the steep, narrow trail we had been walking on all day, the last segment was flat, smooth, and paved. It was by far the most touristy part of the "hike." You can see the trail leading into Riomaggiore in the picture below.


Like all of the other villages, Riomaggiore was a pretty, colorful little fishing village. Exhausted and starving, we wolfed down a quick lunch here before hopping on the ferry to head back toward Montorosso.


Our first stop after leaving Riomaggiore was in Manarolo. Here, we met up with my parents who had taken the ferry from Montorosso to Riomaggiore and then walked along the Via dell Amore to Manarolo where they joined us on the ferry. If you look close, you can spot them both, waiting to board.


What an amazing adventure! This hike was definitely one of the highlights of our Italian travels.