Hiking in Cinque Terre

We returned home to Antibes from our Burgundy barge trip on Monday, we washed clothes and repacked on Tuesday, and then we headed back to the train station on Wednesday en route to our next adventure - Cinque Terre, on the Ligurian Coast of Italy.  The Cinque Terre, or “Five Lands”, are made up of the charming fishing villages of (from north to south) Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, & Riomaggiore, all clinging to the rocky cliffs above the resplendent Ligurian Sea, and all linked together by hiking trails and by a local train, and, this time of year, most are also linked by ferries.

Vernazza from the Trail to Corniglia

We didn’t waste any time hitting the trails. After we got settled into our hotel in the beautiful village of Vernazza, we headed to the train station to buy our Carta Cinque Terre.  The card gives you access to all the maintained hiking trails and to the local train which stops in all the towns between Levanto and La Spezia.  The funds you pay for the card go to finance the restoration and conservation of the Cinque Terre National Park, which in 1997 became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Corniglia from the Direction of Vernazza

It took us less than 90 minutes, hiking past olive groves and terraced vineyards along the high, rocky, narrow trail from Vernazza, to reach Corniglia to the south.  Because it sits so high, 100 meters above the sea, Corniglia is the only one of the five villages without direct access to the sea, and, therefore, has no ferry service.  We found a café with a lovely vine-covered terrace facing the sea, where we took a break and partook in some tasty antipasti of olives, cippolini,  & bruschetta, all washed down with some cold, crisp white Cinque Terre wine, while we watched the sun begin its slow descent into the Ligurian Sea.  We still had plenty of sunlight as we headed down from this perched village via a staircase of over 370 steps toward the train station where we hopped onto the train back to our home base of Vernazza.  By hiking southward from Vernazza to Corniglia, we avoided climbing these 370 steps that you encounter hiking northward from Manarola to Corniglia.

A Corniglia Sunset over the Ligurian Sea

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