Hiking in Cinque Terre

[rafe]

Cinque Terre refers to five towns in northern Italy, right on the Mediterranean Sea, what might be called the "Italian Riviera." We were there a couple of weeks ago and the weather was gorgeous. There are trails connecting the five towns, but one can also travel between the towns by rail or by boat. (By car, maybe, but that's much more difficult, and there are no cars allowed in the towns themselves, aside from delivery vehicles.)

I walked from Monterossa to Vernazza one afternoon. It took less than two hours, but there was plenty of vertical involved. I was surprised by the toll booth. It cost me eight Euros! I believe there's a reduced-rate ticket if one wants to walk more of it. The next morning my sister and I left Vernazza early and hiked partway toward Corniglia and back. The ticked booth hadn't opened yet so we got to walk that bit "for free."

Goes to show what a great deal we all get from the AT. I don't begrudge them the eight Euros. Every inch of this trail was heavily engineered. Without an army of volunteers (like we have on the AT) someone's got to pay.

Some views from the trail, and the ticket stub...

[rafe]

A few photos from the walk from Vernazza to Corniglia... In one of them you can see the "toll booth." The town you see is Vernazza. Typical of these towns, it looks like someone threw a bunch of Legos up against the hills.

[SWODaddy]

Thanks for the pics, this brings back memories.

I did that hike ~2004. Absolutely beautiful. Topless sunbathers too!

[tiptoe]

I would love to do that hike one day. The scenery is similar on the French side of the border. Years ago, my son and I took a bus to the "perched village" of Eze, overlooking the Mediterranean, and hiked down to the coast on a trail that Nietzsche is said to have enjoyed. It was a very pleasant walk.
https://thewildlyordinarylife.com/20...o-eze-village/

[imscotty]

Thanks for the pictures Rafe. I hiked the Cinque Terre 31 years ago. At that time there was no toll and the towns were not as connected with civilization as they are today. It was a memorable experience. I hope you tried some of their local white wine. I had some fabulous seafood meals in those towns also.

Scott

[Leo L.]

As there is no such NP structure, and close to none volunteers work in Europe as it is in the US, most things are done by the communities with the main goal to get money, finally.
As every community is on a very tight budget, usually they set up a project, ask the EU to shell out some kickoff money, then do the work, and finally ask for toll to use the whole setup. Task is, that the toll pays for the mainenance (the bigger part of it).
Wherever there is no return by toll, the project decays and falls apart within a few years, usually.
So its quite OK to let the users pay for the mainetnance. Its common practice in (Central and Southern) Europe.

Cique Terre definitely is outstanding!

[Maydog]

This was on my list of things to do in Italy this past summer; but the trip ended up being postponed. I definitely want to do this.

[rafe]

This was on my list of things to do in Italy this past summer; but the trip ended up being postponed. I definitely want to do this.

For what it's worth, part of the path in the National Park is closed due to rock slides. It's the section between Manarola and Riomaggiore, known also as the "Lover's Walk." There's an alternate walking path but longer, and away from the sea.

On the day of my first hike there, the path was crowded, almost entirely with traffic going the other way. On the following day, starting around 8 AM, we had the path to ourselves, at least for the first hour or so. This is not a backpacking trail. There are no shelters or provisions for camping along the way.

Here's a link to the Wiki article on Cinque Terre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre

I can compare it to the Coastal Path in southern England, which was roughly similar in terms of scenery, though much less rugged. The path in Cinque Terre was extremely narrow in places. Both trails take you high up on the cliffs overlooking the sea, and drop down into fascinating small towns every few miles or so. Plenty of awesome food and drink in the towns. Lodging might be tough to find in high season, though.

[BrianLe]

"Lodging might be tough to find in high season, though."

This is indeed very popular. Waiting at any of the train stations along the way can be a pretty crammed, crowded experience.

Not really bad though; cool area to see and fun little towns to visit and stay in. But if you're looking for a less tourist-overrun area, choose another part of Italy.