One of the highlights for us and many other people in the area is the walk Le Sentiero Azzurro, the path along the coast that connects the five villages of the Cinque Terre. Unfortunately, a few years ago, terrible landslides closed the famous Via Dell’amore, which connects the villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola. However, it is still possible to hike between the five villages, which now means a much more difficult hike! These old trails are rough but manageable and the charm of the area is that it is natural and preserved, so don’t expect nice steps or safety rails along the way. We made the hike between Riomaggiore and Monterosso al Mare, taking the time to stop at each of the villages on our way, and this was undoubtedly a highlight of our stay in Italy!
An Incredible Day Hiking the Three Villages of the Cinque Terre
We stayed overnight in Riomaggiore and left quite early in the morning, right after breakfast. We strongly recommend starting early as it was only the beginning of may when we visited, but it was extremely hot and by early afternoon the trail was really crowded, so we can imagine how hot and crowded it would be at the height of summer.
We bought trekking maps of Cinque Terre at each tourist information center of Riomaggiore, which is located next to the train station. We would not need it until the second half of our hike, since the trail between Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia is free. We went to the top of the road to the station until we found a hiking sign and we went uphill! The trail began with an almost endless vertical staircase that had all the bubbles and covered with sweat when it finally reached the top. When we reached the top,it was a long steep walk down many rough stairs to Manarola. This first leg of the hike took just over an hour and was probably one of the most difficult and strenuous parts of the hike with very steep hills, no handrails and big steps, but if you take your time and wear good shoes, everything will be fine.
Then we went to Manarola to explore this beautiful village, which is a place where one day we want to return and spend more time discovering its beauty, its charm, its streets and hidden secrets!
FROM MANAROLA TO CORNIGLIA (VIA VOLASTRA)
There were many steps to leave Manarola and get back on the trail, but once we did we had a stunning panoramic view of the beautiful Manarola. Our second stage of the hike then took us through beautiful vineyards and along beautiful paths on the cliffs, where we were speechless before the breathtaking scenery and the beautiful blue water below us! The path was extremely steep and we had a very hard and long climb to reach Volastra, which towered over the entire coast. Volastra had a small shop where we collected cold water and gatorade, which was incredible because the extremely long and steep climb had taken us away. From Volastra we then went back for a long walk in Corniglia. This leg of the hike took about an hour and a half as we had plenty of water and rest breaks along the way (most people did the same). We had a quick look around Corniglia but not too much time as we wanted to go to Vernazza for lunch and were absolutely hungry at that point. Although we did not spend much time in Corniglia, we could still appreciate its beauty and charm, which each of the villages of the Cinque Terre has!
CORNIGLIA TO VERNAZZA
From Corniglia to Vernazza and Monterosso we had to pass a checkpoint and show our “trekking map ” of the Cinque Terre that we had bought that morning in Riomaggiore. The trail between these three villages was much better maintained and much more reasonable to walk than our original trail (but still certainly not easy)! It still includes many stages, but it adapts to the coast instead of climbing and crossing the mountains! I think a lot of people choose to just walk between these three instead of the five, now that the Via Dell’amore is closed because there were a lot more people on this part of the trail than we had met at the beginning. The scenery was just as beautiful and by and by as we drove we got glimpse of the other villages scattered along the coast and it was magical!
It took us a little less than an hour to walk from Corniglia to Vernazza, and we stopped in Vernazza for a lunch of a squid cornet (which was our favorite food on the coast because it was delicious, fresh and super cheap) and a little break before approaching the rest of the hike to Monterosso. Vernazza was our second favorite village after Riomaggiore, it is a beautiful village buzzing with life and has a nice little port with many fishing boats!