Cinque Terre, which means Five Lands, five small coastal villages which are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso located in the Italian region of Liguria. They are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
You can walk the coastline between these towns by following the coastal path but at the moment it is incomplete. Instead you have to leave the lower path and head up into the hills surrounding the towns where you will walk through the vineyards and follow the paths that are used daily by the farmers tending their vines. It’s not an easy trek and the paths are very steep and narrow in places and you have to be careful. Yesterday the weather was atrocious, it was very wet and the winds were fierce and so the paths have become quite muddy in places.
Then I got to the top of the first vineyard I stopped to look at the view while I listened to my heart and heavy breathing. I thought my heart was about to burst out my chest. And then there was this strange noise as a bird flew over my head travelling at a great rate of knots and dived towards the town below which by now looked like a Lego town, I near shit myself.
Some of the stepped paths were almost like waterfalls which made them treacherous at times, but by being steady and surefooted I was able to trek the length of the Cinque Terra in about 6 hours covering a distance of at least 24km but my phone tells me that it was more like 32km after you take in to consideration the distance up and down the hillsides from sea level and to the top of the hills and then returning 3 times to sea level. All these towns are perched in the outcrops and are exposed to the elements. They look very similar in nature and they are all connected by a railway which for the most part is through long connecting tunnels.
If you don’t want to walk the full length then it’s easy to jump on the train to get you to the next town. I planned to go to the first town and start my walk from Riomaggiore, but I could not get off the train because my carriage was not on the platform and so I had to get off at the next town which was Manarola. I walked down to the small harbour and then tried to find the path to the north. The main coastal track is only about 200 m long and so I headed up and through the vineyards to find the path to the north. Finally I saw the small marks which are one red line and one white line. You can follow these markings all the way along the Cinque Terra. You are supposed to buy a Cinque Terra walking ticket but I did not as I’ve realised that in Italy buying a ticket isn’t always necessary. For instance I got the bus the other day and was told to buy my ticket at the tobacconist because it’s half price of the price you pay on the bus. I got a return and then went for the bus. No one checked my ticket, the bus driver never even gave me a glance. Most people getting on the bus just got on and sat down. Not once did I see anyone buy a ticket and so I wasted 5 Euros and so there was no way I was going to do the right thing walking the Cinque Terra and buy a ticket. And you know not one of the checking stations was open, so happy days.
The weather was really perfect, it was overcast and cool but climbing up these steep trails it didn’t take long for the sweat to begin to roll. It was great to get away from the city’s and the people and to get out into nature. I only met about 10 folk on the trek but as soon as you ventured into one of the small towns there were hoards of people walking through ghost towns. Most cafes and shops were closed for the winter months and the locals seemed to have vacated, only the tourists were to be seen.
