Two weeks ago, I told you that I had finally managed to reach the Cinque Terre. If you haven’t yet, you can read all about my previous failed attempts to visit one of Liguria’s most famous sites. Have you ever heard about the Cinque Terre? About Corniglia, Vernazza, Manarola, Riomaggiore and Monterosso? These 5 villages are connected to one another through sinuous paths. You can travel by boat or train to visit them, or even better, you can hike!
Until the 1870s, when the railway line was built, the Cinque Terre were almost inaccessible. Today, cars are banned within the villages. Since 1999, the Cinque Terre are classified as a national park, and it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Staying In Corniglia
When I had left Genoa, it was raining and I had put on my raincoat. But now that I was in Corniglia, there were just a few clouds, the sun was shining bright and I looked a bit ridiculous. To get to the hostel, I had to go up to the village located right at the top of the mountain. I had two options: I could use the endless stairs or the road. Given the fact that I had a suitcase, I took the road. The more I walked, the hotter I was, so I took off my raincoat and my jacket. Eventually, I arrived at Ostello Corniglia, climbed the stairs to the hostel, left my luggage there and went back downstairs to get some fresh air and wait for check-in to open. So tired!
Ostello Corniglia is well located, right in the middle of the village. The equipment is basic, but that’s all you need to hike all day and rest for the next day. At night, frogs will sing you to sleep. There are big luggage lockers that you can use for free and since the hostel is part of the Cinque Terre park, you can get pretty nice prices for the trek and train cards.
I arrived in the hostel pretty much at the same time as another French girl, Anthéa. We were both famished and tired, so we decided to spend the afternoon together. First, we grabbed some pizza at a local shop and then, we visited Corniglia while chatting. She was really cool and friendly. In the end, we spent the evening together and, since we were both leaving on Friday, we planned to hike the Cinque Terre together.
Corniglia is a really cute village, maybe my favorite of the Cinque Terre. This is the only village that can’t be reached from the sea, because it’s at the top of the mountain. I think this is a good starting point, because you can do 2 villages per day. To get an optimal experience of the Cinque Terre, I wouldn’t recommend hiking the 5 villages in one day.
From Corniglia To Vernazza
On April 27th, we started hiking from Corniglia. For some reason, it was not easy for us to get the trek card. Because we were staying in a Cinque Terre hostel, we had the right to pay 2€/person instead of 7.50€. But Anthéa’s name could be entered, my card wouldn’t work… Alessandro, the reception guy who wasn’t even working in the morning met us at the checkpoint to help us, and after trying for half an hour, we managed to pay our 2€ and to start the hike!
The hike was hard, especially for me, but we made it to Vernazza. On the paths, we met so many French people! Forget about saying Hello or Ciao, Bonjour worked almost every time. The sentieri are so beautiful, you nearly always have a view of the azure blue sea and there are flowers, trees and amazing smells (often orange blossom). Also, the path is pleasant because you are rarely non stop in the sun, there is a lot of shade.
We had lunch in a restaurant: trofiette al pesto for me. It looks disgusting, but it’s delicious (I swear!). Then, we walked around the city and caught our breath before climbing up again to hike to Monterosso.
From Vernazza To Monterosso
The start was harsh, it was really hot and the steps were mostly random rocks here and there, my legs were hurting and I regretted so much taking only jeans and one legging (I honestly thought that the weather would be crap!). The path felt more difficult and less straightforward than the one from Corniglia to Vernazza. Nonetheless, we made it to Monterosso and sat for a long time in a bar next to the beach. I drank a mint granita and a mandarinata (some kind of lemonade but with green tangerines).
After getting some rest, we explored Monterosso. This is a really magical village: I love its small multicoloured streets with rays of sun filtering through the arches, its wisteria and its walls decorated with pieces of blue porcelain. I was so captivated by the architecture that I nearly walked on a cat licking itself in the middle of the street. No f***s given about tourists wandering around: a cat indeed!
A walk on the beach, next to a Giant made of stone, some seafood spaghetti and we decided it was time to go back to Corniglia. One last effort climbing the countless stairs from the train station to the hostel and I could fall asleep to the sound of frogs.
From Corniglia To Manarola
To start this second day of hiking, we thought we might get some heavy fuel and opted for a big breakfast. Not especially Italian this time, but efficient: avocado, eggs, cheese, tomatoes and salmon. However, the generous breakfast didn’t help me with my muscle soreness. The path began with steps going up up up, and my calves were killing me. The reassuring thing was that I wasn’t the only one suffering. Many people were regularly taking breaks.
Later, once we passed some woods, the path started being easier, we walked through vineyards. We even stopped at a winery in the middle of the vines. They had tables, so we each bought a glass of wine and some food, and we sat down looking at the sea and mountains, feeling happy. I tasted the vin de gussa: it’s a dry white wine, but it’s slightly sweet because there is some sciacchetrà (another sweet wine) in it.
The Cinque Terre sentieri on this side were closed, so I thought that I would have to take the train. In reality, there are several other paths, so we simply took another one (that was free, even better!). It seems that this path is less easy, but it’s very nice. Going through vineyards and seeing the mountains and the sea from above is magical!
We reached Manarola in the afternoon and ate some focaccia before succumbing to the temptation of ice-cream: chocolate vegan gelato with edible spoon and cup. However, to be honest, we nearly broke a tooth trying to eat the spoon…
From Manarola To Riomaggiore
And then, we were off to the last of the five villages: Riomaggiore. Usually, you go there using the Via dell’amore, but the path was closed, so we took another road. One that included rocks and stairs going up. At this point, I didn’t know if I was hiking or climbing. Plus, the sun was hitting us hard. Even Anthéa was suffering. But we made it to the top, and then, going down was easier. Still pretty steep, but less painful.
We visited Riomaggiore before finding a seat in a bar to watch the sunset. It was stunning, like something that you see in movies! A seagull even came for us to take a picture, it was simply perfect.
Before darkness fell, we took a train to Corniglia and we treated ourselves with a full meal in the Posada restaurant. Following Andrea’s advice, we ordered spaghetti ai frutti di mare et tono al sesamo. Delizioso! For dessert, cheesecake for me and tiramisù for Anthéa.
And that was the end of this amazing adventure! In the morning, Anthéa left to go back to France.
To see more photos of Italy, you can visit the gallery Italy.
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[…] If you want to read more about the Cinque Terre, here is my article about how I failed three times to go there and here is the article where I tell you about the fourth time that was a success. Finally, you can read about the hikes here. […]