Cinque Terre is a national park on the northwest coast of Italy. Five towns (Monterosso Al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) border this park and are connected by cliff side walking paths. Cinque Terre is popular with hikers and many people will spend a night in each town and spend their days hiking.
Vernazza:
After transferring in Santa Margherita Ligure we arrived by train to Vernazza, the town we had decided to spend the night in. Vernazza was recently named on the NYTimes '46 Places to Go in 2013.' Although the town is tiny it took us around 30 minutes to find our guesthouse as the streets are not sign posted. The room we had rented was owned by an elderly couple who could barely speak any English. After some misinterpretation we successfully registered and began to explore the town.
Coincidentally, two of our friends were also traveling in Cinque Terre. Together, the four of us decided to search for a cliff diving point that we had heard of. The only problem was that we weren't sure where it was (or even if it was in Vernazza) and none of us spoke Italian. One uncertain local thought that it might be in the small cove to the left of the harbor so, as the water was warm, we decided to get in and explore.
Long story short two of us were weak swimmers. I ended up having to play lifeguard and pull my one friend to shore. Another friend had been thrashed against the rocks a bit while trying to take refuge and was profusely bleeding. Safe to say we did not find the cliff diving but did get a great near-death experience for the books.
Monterosso Al Mare:
After dinner we took the train and visited the town directly to the north of Vernazza. The trains run about every 30 minutes and are pretty punctual.
Monterosso was much more modern and developed than Vernazza. A promenade runs along the beach and small hotel complexes and restaurants line the other side of the road. My friend and I had gelato and then decided to climb one of the huge rocks jutting out into the water. The beach was deserted and we had a great view of the town lights from the rocks.
[Monterosso Beach at night]
Next we walked up the promenade and along the cliff. On our walk we found a small watch point, apparently from WWII. Someone had lit lanterns in all of its windows.
Manarola:
The next morning we woke up early and took the train to Manarola with the aim of walking from there to the neighboring town, Corniglia.
At first we had a hard time finding the path to Corniglia and wandered along the coast until we reached a dead end. On this detour we came across the Manarola cemetery. The pink building was one giant crypt with tons of 'drawers' full of the remains of the towns former residents. Interestingly each name was accompanied by a printed image of the deceased and flowers.
[Path through the vineyard]
Corniglia:
After thirty minutes of walking and asking directions we finally found the correct path at the back of the town. From there the walk led us inland through an olive grove and various vineyards. The path gradually reconnected with the coast and followed an at times sheer drop. Simply put, the views were the best. This walk was the highlight of my trip to Italy and photos really do not do it justice.
[Olives]
[Arrival in Corniglia]
I only stayed in the towns of Cinque Terre for one night and two partial days. If I could redo the trip I would have given myself more time to explore the area and take more walks. Cinque Terre is considered one of the secrets of Italy but already there are quite a few tourists. I will without a doubt be stopping by again on my next trip to Italy.
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