Northern Italy Trip: part 3 - Cinque Terre

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After leaving Florence and the Tuscany region, our plan was to make our way slowly to our next 'base camp' in La Spezia on the west coast of Italy, spending the day stopping and taking in the sites of Lucca and Pisa.

But by now on our trip, we were pretty much over seeing another town and the buildings it had to offer. We were day dreaming of the beach!!! The weather was warm and all we wanted to do was kick back at the beach and not do too much of anything. So with that we decided to forgo the sites and catch our train directly to La Spezia.

La Spezia was where we were goign to base ourselves for the next couple of days. While we didn't think it would (and it didn't) have much in the way of drawcards itself - it was a big town and one that provided lots of accomodation options, and we were told it was a good place to base yourself for exploring the Cinque Terre region, which was our main reason for being here.

Now for those of you unfamiliar with the Cinque Terre - it is the area that encapsulates the five villages (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso) that cling to the steep coastline just west of Le Spezia. This is a Unesco World Heritage site which offers one of the best walks/hikes in the country. You can walk the whole stretch, going from village to village, and it will take you about 5 hours. What it does offer though is varying degrees of difficulty as you work your way along. But each village is connected by the train and offers people the chance to jump on and off along the various villages and hence different stages of the hike. Le Spezia is only 5 minutes on the train to the closest village of Riomaggiore.

So upon arriving into La Spezia and checking into our hotel around noon, we had a quick nap, and then boarded the train to head over to the biggest and furtherest village away, Monterrosso. This was a beautiful village (more like a town really) that was a buzz with people. The beaches were crowded with deck chairs and people sunbaking in the amazing warmth. The water was just an amazing blue and was like glass. In fact the whole time we were in this area, we were blessed with amazing weather. Oh a word of advice, the village is bigger than it appears, as you think it is all in front of you, but if you go through the tunnel in the cliff along the beach you find Monterosso strecthes out even further and offers more (we didn't find this out till the next day)

We spent the afternoon just wandering along the waterfront and then settled into a beach front bar for an afternoon beverage as we watched the sun set. The Cinque Terre is reknowned for its white wines, which is a nice change from all the reds of Tuscany (not complaining, just good to mix it up sometimes), and I have to say they were really good. We went on from here to a little restaurant just off the front. Now I had read that the region is also reknwoned for its anchovies, and this was defintiely on my radar. And of course being on the coast our attention was going to be on good fresh seafood. We enjoyed a great meal - sharing a mix of various anchovie delights, and other great seafood dishes. Feeling content and rather tired we made our way back to our hotel in Le Spezia for a good night sleep - as our goal for the following day was to take on the Cinque Terre hike in one hit.

We woke early the next day and caught the train to Riomaggiore. We arrived here at a little after 7am. Now that may seem early, but we wanted to make the most of the cooler morning temperatures before the day got too hot, and if you didn't catch the two early trains, then the next one wasn't until 10am and we figured more people would be on this one. So here we were in Riomaggiore bright and early - not a sole around and a nice clear crisp morning. We actually didn't look around this village but strode off on the first leg of the Cinque Terre, which is called Via dell' Amore (Lovers' Lane) and makes its way along to the second village Manarola. This leg is an easy 20 minute walk along flat paths. It was a very picturesque walk along the coast and the time of day we were there just emphasised it all (plus we had the whole thing to ourselves). We arrived in the cute little village of Manarola and had a wander around looking for some breakfast that I promised Ange for getting her up so early. We had the best coffee on the whole holiday here.

From here we made our way towards the next village of Corniglia, a 1km walk that takes about an hour. The first part of this walk is very easy and just like the first leg - but then you reach the train station for this village - from here it is straight up some 400 steps to the village itself nestled atop of the cliff. By now the temperature was really heating up, and we were begining to sweat and feel it. So Ange and I took two different tacts to this mission in the direct sun - mine was to basically run up it and get it over and done with quickly, which then allowed me plenty of time to rest and take in the amazing views from the shade of a tree. Plus I got to watch and listen to Ange cursing as she slowly made her way up the stairs in the heat of the day.

From Corniglia on through the next two legs is considered the hardest sections of the Cinque Terre hike, and this was to be further emphasised as the temp creeped up into the 30's. The trek from Corniglia to Vernazza is a 4km slog which takes about an hour and a half. But from here you start to go bush and the tracks are more rugged and mountainous. The first legs basically follow the coast and stays fairly low to the water, but from here on you head up and over, still hugging the coastline but much higher up.

By the time we reached Vernazza we were definitely very hot and drenched in sweat. But can't complain too much as the views and the region is beautiful. And the village of Vernazza was great - this was definitely our favourite. It was quant but still well serviced with a small beach, accomodation options and lots of cafes, bars and restaurants.

We strode out on the last leg of the hike from Vernazza to Monterosso, considered to be the hardest part of the trek covering 3km and taking about 2 hours. And they weren't wrong. This was the hardest leg, but in all honesty not too bad. We of course still found it very tough going as it was now the middle of the day and the temperature was in the mid 30's with little cover from the heat on some parts. The tracks were much more rugged and tight too. It was a great part of the trip, but I must say I was really over the heat by now and dying to get to Monterosso to jump in the water.

We had asked when we bought our Cinque Terre pass at Le Spezia about which was the best way to tackle it, and the woman said to go the way we went, as starting from Monterosso first is much harder. And she was not wrong, as while we had a fairly steep last decent down lots of stairs and paths, the people heading up were really struggling. Many thinking they must nearly be there, but we didn't have the heart to tell a lot of them they were a long way off before it flattened out - plus by now my manners and sense of humour had left me as I was too hot to care.

And so we had reached the village of Monterosso. We looked terrible - we were so hot and drenched in sweat and dust. We walked to down onto the beach were I paid the guy €25 for two deck chairs and an umbrella (this is then yours for the full day, including your own changing room that has a lock), were we threw our things down and walked straight into the ocean. Now I tell you this was the best feeling of our lives. After our 6 hours of hiking in the blistering heat the water was amazing. We floated around it it for ages and then alternated between the deck chairs lapping up the sun and then more swimming. Poor Ange has such soft feet however that she really struggled getting to and from the water as there is no sand, but all small rocks.

We were in heaven. We realised at this point, that it had been 12 months since we had last swum in the ocean. And that is a very long time, especially for us. So we lapped it up and didn't want to leave. But as the sun set, we picked up our stuff and jumped on the train back to Vernazzo where we stopped at this lively little bar and had a few drinks before we moved onto a little restaurant where we again had a mixed plate of the delicous local anchovies and then shared a really great mixed platter of grilled seafood and more Cinque Terre white wine. A perfect way to finish the day. But you could see Ange's eyes fading as she got really sleepy after the big day and alcohol. As soon as we got on the train (that was delayed by an hour) Ange feel asleep. Thank goodness she woke up for the walk from the train station to our hotel in Le Spezia, as I didn't have the energy to carry her.

After a great sleep and not really wanting to leave, we had to resign ourselves however to the fact that we needed to make our way towards Milan where we were to fly out very early the day after. So we packed and boarded the train to Milan for a 3 hour trip. From here we then had to catch a bus for an hour out to the airport that RyanAir runs from, and then get our hotel shuttle to pick us up. It is a long way from everything - both the airport and hotel - so we didn't get a chance to see Milan. Instead we settled into our hotel late in the day, had a meal at the restaurant to farewell our trip and went to bed as we had to be at the airport at 5.30am the next morning.

So all in all a very busy trip, but just helped to cement Italy as one of our very favourite places to visit.

Enjoy the photos.

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Photos

Looking back along the coastline
The furtherest point is Riomaggiore, the starting point of the hike

Sunbakers delight
These umbrellas spread every inch of the large beaches