Tre di Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre (5 lands) is a string of old seaside fishing villages each mounted on the cliffside on the Italian Riviera. In each of the 5 villages, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces with breathtaking views of the coast. The Sentiero Azzurro cliffside hiking trail links the villages and offers more breathtaking vistas and one hell of a workout!
The five lands include Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. We traveled farthest north to Monterosso with the intent of exploring/trekking each (heading southward). A train to La Spezia connected us to the Cinque Terre Train (dedicated to hauling visitors back and forth amongst the villages).
We arrived in Monterosso, the most touristed village and the only one with a "proper" beach.
We peaked around town but headed to the hiking trail. After about half a mile, we discovered that part of the trail was actually closed so we had to head back to town and jump on the train to start in the next village, Vernazza. We were okay with that since the hike was going to take about 2.5 hours and we were already ready for lunch.
So now we're in Vernazza to have lunch and get our butts on the trail. Vernazza is the most picturesque of the villages, so colorful! And this village has the only "proper" harbor of the five lands.
We climbed and climbed to have lunch atop the village, overlooking the harbor and the sea. It was beautiful and romantic. Now it's hiking time...
Corniglia is the highest village of the five. I don't think we knew that going into the hike, but we certainly discovered it! It was a tough trek! But fun, chatting and being silly with Luca. There were lots of other people on the trail too. It also happened to be the hottest part of the day now and holy shit we were hot.
Arriving, we actually stripped down to our unders and jumped in the sea!!
Now we realized how long that little hike took and it was almost 6pm. We decided not to hike the last two villages but grab the train and head home (Jake, dinner, etc, etc). Plus our unders were wet and that would NOT be nice hiking. Luca promised me we can return for the last two hikes. Manarola actually has several "must do" trails around and leading to some other small towns. I already can't wait! More random photos from along the trail:
