Cinque Terre

Took the train from Santa Margherita Ligure

to Riomaggiore

in the morning

- there's a train every hour to all five

Cinque Terre villages:

Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia,

Manarola & Riomaggiore

- the journey took app. 1,5h by a local train

- there's a special Cinque Terre one-way train ticket for 5 euro,

it's valid for 6 hours after stamping it,

and it's possible to get off the train at any of the 5 stations

and continue the journey within 6 hours,

the return ticket works the same way
.

There're different footpaths to choose from:

- seaside route

- extreme route

- mountain bike route

- horse-riding route

Chose the seaside route

First route: Via dell' Amore

from Riomaggiore to Manarola

.

Via dell' Amore
. Sun-bathing in a-not-so-easy-access place!
. It took only a couple of minutes to walk

from Riomaggiore to Manarola,

app. 1km

(estimated time of walking 20mins)
. A tunnel in Manarola
. Manarola
. . Manarola
. Route between Manarola and Corniglia
. The water was so clear & turqoise
. Somewhere up there is Corniglia

Corniglia
- before entering the village

there're more than 300 steps to climb!

Manarola-Corniglia: estimated time 1h10mins

- did it in 45mins
.

View of the sea from Corniglia
.

Corniglia
.

Did the same as the cat,

had a little break in Corniglia
.

Ate some fruit salad & tomato fogaccio
.

Corniglia
.

Way from Corniglia to Vernazza
. Olive trees on the way
.

Several meters above the sea level
.

Going up is hard

but going down is much more difficult

.

On the way, near Vernazza were plenty of empty "flats"

- no idea what they were & what for

.

Map of Vernazza

- Corniglia-Vernazza estimated time 1h30min

- did it app. in that time
.

Vernazza
.

Main square & port of Vernazza
.

Had a lunch by the port in Vernazza
.

Anchovies
.

Spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce

.

Rating: 4/5

- very tasty food

- despite the place was packed at the lunch time,

the service was friendly

- good location
.
Ristorante Gianni Franzi

Piazza Marconi 1

Vernazza
.

Vernazza
.

Sun-bathing & swimming
.

The last part of the route:

from Vernazza to Monterosso
.

Vernazza
.

Vineyards

.

Some parts of the path were extremely narrow
.

Steps up, steps down
.

The last part of the route is said to be

the most beautiful because of the nature,

and also the most difficult
Estimated time Vernazza-Monterosso: 2h

- did it in little less than that

Monterosso
.

Beach in Monterosso

.

Took a fast train from

Monterosso to Santa Margherita Ligure

at 4.55pm

- was already back at 5.33pm

.

Absolutely worth visiting Cinque Terre,

great walking there,

beautiful landscape,

gorgeous views of the sea from the cliffs

- perhaps August wasn't the best time to go there,

because of the heat and crowds,

spring & autumn would've been the best times
.

www.cinqueterre.it

www.5terre.com