Cinque Terre, all five villages plus a couple of others…

Cinque Terre consists of five villages on the northwest cost of Italy. All are either on the ocean or overlook it from the cliffs above. Our destination for 3 nights was the town of Corniglia, the middle village of the five.

The drive from Siena was beautiful and easy until we reached the seaport town of La Spezia. The roads into Cinque Terre are very narrow and winding causing most people to use La Spezia as a jumping off point when visiting Cinque Terre, but we decided to drive. It was a bit harrowing, Terri often hides her head in her IPhone pretending to check for directions, (although there are few places to turn-off), this practice saves her from jumping out her seat and using her imaginary brake peddle in the passenger side of the car. The drive is much like Highway 1 to Big Sur, beautiful ocean vistas with sharp drop-offs into the ocean just add Italian drivers and single lanes!?!

We found our way to Corniglia unscathed and early, (although I did have a strong craving for a beer). Our host was very nice but she spoke very little English. The apartment was well appointed, just off the main square and had a beautiful view. We walked around Corniglia and I decided that I needed a swim to de-stress me. Corniglia is 400 stair steps above the ocean giving it great views but making swimming only for the committed.

There are two ways to get around Cinque Terre: by train 🚂 or on foot. All five villages are connected by a series of walking/hiking paths as well as by train. Always wanting to get in some exercise, we mostly chose travel on foot. Our first day’s destinations were the villages of Vernazza and Monterossa, both lying to the north. The walk along the cliffs, through terraced vineyards and olive groves, took us about 3.5 hours, which included numerous sightseeing stops along the way. Both Vernazza and Monterossa are beautiful seaside villages with ample tavernas and cafes to refresh the tired hikers before, during and after their treks from village to village. After refreshments, We opted for the train ride back to Corniglia. The train ride back took 8 minutes versus the hike of 3.5 hours but we still had to climb the 400 stairs up to Corniglia from the train stop 😥!

Our second day’s destinations were Manarola and Riomaggiore to the south. We were somewhat nervous about making the hike as there was a possibility of a train strike and neither one of us wanted to hike the full distance in both directions: we decided to hike to Manorola first and check on the status of the strike. With little assurance from the train clerks and not sure if the travel gods were happy with us yet, we decided to ride the train to Riomaggiore and then return via train to Corniglia. All went well with the trains and feeling confident, I decided that we should eat in a village outside of Cinque Terre called Levanto, we were assured that the trains would run after 9 pm as the union schedules timeframes for their strikes. I found a highly rated pizza 🍕 place and we caught the train to Levanto. Their pizza and local wine 🍷 were awesome! Terri decided that we needed gelato, (again), and we set-off looking for the best gelato we could find – except- everything was closed😢. Dejected, we headed back to the train station for the ride home to Corniglia.

Evidently, while we were eating dinner and searching for non-existent gelato, the travel gods threw a little mischief into the train strike and although not a full strike, there was a disruption in the schedule. There was little we could do, options: wait for a train or walk the many miles on unlit dirt paths/trails to Corniglia.

The train announcements were almost funny, every five minutes our train was being described as being another 5 minutes late, really? And then rain ☔️ and thunder started. Great, just great! An hour and fifteen minutes late, our train finally arrived, whew! As good as the pizza was, waiting and hoping for the train was a little stressful.

Next stop: Lucca (and Pisa)

Manarola