Cinque Terra

We spent 3 days in Cinque Terra which translates to the five villages and is a UNESCO world heritage centre that dates back to the late Middle Ages. The five villages are Riomaggiore, Manorola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. According to Wikipedia – Cinque Terre is a string of centuries-old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. In each of the 5 towns, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbors are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along with the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto. The Sentiero Azzurro cliffside hiking trail links the villages and offers sweeping sea vistas.

Cinque Terre is also known for the lemons and anchovies. There are so many stores selling lemon products like soap, candy and limoncello (liquer). On our first evening we went looking for a restaurant and lucked out at a fancy restaurant overlooking the water and town. Apparently this is the place to be if you intend to propose… And did you know that the Italians don’t usually have their dinner till 7:30? We usually get a table without a reservation when the restaurant opens for business around 6 to 6:30.

One of the most popular activity in Cinque Terre is to hike from one town to another. On our first full day we hike from Monterosso ( where we are staying ) to Manarola, 4 towns in total. The hike can be quite strenuous at times as there is quite a lot of elevation gain before heading downhill again to another small town. The trail is very enjoyable, sometimes you are walking right along the terraced vineyards. We also saw many olives trees and of course not to mention the different wild flowers. By the time we arrived at the first stop, my shirt was soaked with sweat and I had to buy a quick-drying t-shirt, yeah, I was expecting a stroll, not huff and puff my way up stone steps and sweat like a pig! It was between 24-27C but felt so much warmer as it was humid.

The trail connecting the last town is closed as it was damaged by landslide and is accessible by train or boat. Since it was towards the end of the day, we decided to call it a day and take the train back to Monterosso. We had hiked over 25km.

The next day we visited the last town – Riomaggiore. We bought return boat tickets that cost €20 each.

One of the most scenic point in Riomaggiore is at the 14th-century Madonna di Montenero sanctuary. So off on another hike we went. It is a 45-60min hike to the sanctuary which sits on the highest point in Riomaggiore over looking the sea. I found it challenging as my legs were still tired from the day before, the hot sun sure didn’t help.. The hike up to the sanctuary was worth every drop of sweat – the view was just amazing.
I thought that Venice had too many tourists, Cinque Terre takes it to another level and it is not even peak season yet! Each time the train or boat arrives, hundreds more people crowd the narrow streets of the towns eager to support the local economy. To visit Cinque Terre you need to have strong legs and knees… By the way, we average 2-4 scoops of gelato per day… Lemon is my favourite and Jeff’s is chocolate hazelnut