Hiking the Cinque Terre

Hands down, without a doubt, one-hundred-thousand percent, my favorite few days in Italy were spent hiking the Cinque Terre. Meandering through the cutest villages and sipping wine while watching the sun sink into the Ligurian Sea were by far the best experiences of our trip. With two weeks to spend in Italy, we knew a couple of nights in the Cinque Terre region were a must. After the chaos of Rome (read more about our time there here) we were ready to toss the itinerary and catch our breath while visiting these five villages.

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We made the most eastern village of Riomaggiore our home base, staying for 2 nights. This allowed us to enjoy a couple of evenings and a full day in the region. Upon or arrival in the region we checked in at Hotel Mar Mar in Riomaggiore. The room was nothing fancy, but the views were spectacular. Since we arrived in the late afternoon, after a stop in Pisa, we decided to get cleaned up and then walk to the next village, Manarola, for dinner.

Via dell’ Amore

On the walk over to Manarola from Riomaggiore, we locked a padlock on the fence in between the two villages. These two villages were not connected until the 1920s. Prior to the path connecting the neighbors, young people married almost exclusively within their village. The trail changed that and young people would meet in the middle of the path forming love connections. Today, the middle point has been dubbed Via dell’Amore or lover’s lane. Thus the locking of padlocks.

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Our dinner in Manarola was at Marina Piccolo. We devoured steamed mussels, squid ink linguine with shrimp and a blackberry mousse with raspberry sauce. The food was amazing, but the seaside dining experience was even better.

Riomaggiore to Manarola

We spent the entire next day hiking the Cinque Terre. Our hike started along lover’s lane to Manarola. It was an easy, short hike of fewer than 30 minutes with breath-taking views of the water. In Manarola, we walked through the vineyards above the village and marveled as fishing boats were lowered into the water via a cliffside crane.

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Manarola to Corniglia

Manarola to Cornglia was another hike of fewer than 30 minutes but was a little more challenging since we had to climb 383 steps to get into the village. Corniglia is the only village without a harbor, it’s pastel buildings cling to the cliffside. We stopped in the village for gelato before the harder hike to Vernazza.

Corniglia to Vernazza

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Vernazza is the most touristy of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre. With its large harbor and pebbly beach, it’s easy to be sucked into the appeal of this quaint village. Having hiked almost 5 miles at this point, we stopped for paninis and a couple of Cokes and munched them while we sat harbor side. Shoppers will enjoy Vernazza as it offers everything from ceramics to handbags for purchase.

Vernazza to Monterosso

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Vernazza is a little over one mile from Monterosso, the last of the five villages. It’s a resort town with rentable beachside umbrellas. Here were waded into the water and enjoyed the afternoon sun before taking a boat back to Riomaggiore. Instead of a late afternoon gelato (we’d already had one before lunch) we opted to purchase cheese, crackers and a bottle of local wine at the corner store to eat on our balcony and watch the sunset.

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We again walked to Manarola for dinner on our last night in the region. This time we chose Trattoria Il Porticciolo for yummy gnocchi.

Our shortstop in Cinque Terre was part of a larger two-week journey that took us across Italy. We relied heavily on travel books by Rick Steve’s. We used his guidebooks for trips to Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany and Greece and have not been disappointed. Here’s a full itinerary of how we spent our time in Italy.

Two Week Italy Trip Itinerary

• Day 1/Day 2-Depart Minneapolis and arrive in Florence the following day
  • we had yet to discover multi-city airline travel. I highly recommend multi-city flights to save time.
• Day 3-train to Rome
  • Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain
  • dinner near Piazza Navona then-late-night stroll to Four Rivers Fountain, Pantheon and Trevi
• Day 4-Colosseum, Roman Forum and PantheonDay 5-Vatican City
  • Vatican museum tour with stops in Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica
• Day 6-Pompeii
  • stop in Naples for pizza on the return trip to Rome
• Day 7-train to Cinque Terre
  • stop in Pisa for a tour of the leaning tower
• Day 8-Cinque Terre
• Day 9-train to Venice
  • St. Mark’s Square, Doge’s Palace, Bridge of Sighs and gondola ride with drinks at Harry’s Bar
• Day 10-train to Florence
  • stop to see Rialto Bridge and tour St. Mark’s Basilica
• Day 11-Tuscany
  • rent a car in Florence and stop in villages on route to Siena
  • overnight in Siena
• Day 12-More Tuscany and return car in FlorenceDay 13-Florence
  • Galleria dell’Accademia, Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio and Duomo
• Day 14-depart for home

Choose the following links to read more about our adventures in Rome, Venice and Tuscany.

Happy Adventuring, Rochelle