Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre is a series of five villages on the north western Italian coastline within. The best way to visit the villages is to take the train that connects La Spezia and Genoa. The best way to get between the villages is to hike them (or take the train).
In November, I was able to hike between all five villages. Apparently the trails can often be closed and due to a rainstorm a few days early, the easiest path between the last two villages Manarola and Riomaggiore was closed. This last part “Via dell’Amore” has been closed since 2019 and was re-opened briefly in 2024.
To hike the paths in Cinque Terre you will need a trekking card. When I hiked there was only one checkpoint on the whole trail, I’m sure there are more during the summer.
We started off at the North West end in Monterosso, myself hiking and my wife taking the train. We were able to meet up at one village in the middle and at the end. We were both able to move at the pace we wanted to.
At first I thought I’d try running this route, but this quickly became an idea I abandoned. The first section between Monterosso and Vernazza was the busiest part of the route. It was full of people moving at their pace. The route is very narrow with no passing places in many areas. It’s also lots of elevation change and lots and lots of steps.
After Vernazza there were a lot less people, which was great. At this point the November Italian sun was starting to beat down on me. Pleasant, but still fun. At Corniglia, the trail goes right past a church and a water fountain which was lovely.
Corniglia to Manarola is the longest part of the trail with a big assent out of Corniglia, a lovely flat part and then a very long descent down into Manarola. All the ascents and descents are stairs, so many stairs.
At Manarola I went over to the Via dell’Amore to find it closed. So backtracked and took the old path over the hill. This is the steepest ascent, a view at the top and then a steep descent. We were rewarded with an amazing sunset in Riomaggiore and then some Italian gelato.
Views all along the trail were absolutely breath taking. Just beautiful views of villages, the sea, hills. You walk along terraces through vineyards, through forests, past houses and then pop out into amazing villages.
Recommended, but expect it to be busy at the height of the season for a lot of it and expect a lot of sun.