Advertisement
Published: October 14th 2011
Edit Blog Post
A bit buggered!
Having a well deserved break on the Monterosso to Vernazza leg of the journey 'Today started with another breakfast in the enchanted garden, we made it for 9am to give us an extra half hour to sleep in. It really is a great way to start the day.
CINQUE TERRE ON FOOT – THE BLUE TRAIL
Afterwards we wandered down to the train station to buy our Cinque Terre Card. The card gives you access to the walking tracks between the five villages. We bought a 2 day pass; there is the option of including the local train which we also took. It means we can walk one way and train back which we figured meant we would be able to go slower and enjoy the experience more.
That organised we headed back through the Old Town to the start of the track. We decided to take the Blue Track which is the lower of the two and winds up and down between sea level and roughly 2/3rds the way up the slopes. There is a red (high) track which basically follows the ridge line, people say this offers the best views, but really how much better could they be (see photo gallery below). Besides with dodgy knees and overhanging bellies we decided
Monterosso al Mare
The town is set around two inlets, the old town on the right and the new town on the left -split by the Point you can see here. less pain with perhaps slightly less spectacular views was a sacrifice worth making. There are many other tracks that connect and interconnect throughout the Cinque Terre National Park for the more adventurous, and also some flat walks at the other end of the Blue Trail (the Via dell’Amore – lovers lane - just an easy 20 minute walk between the villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola) being the most famous.
THE BLUE TRAIL
Not that the Blue Trail at the Monterosso end is an easy stroll by any stretch of the imagination! Over the length of the whole track there is a 500 metre variation between the highest and lowest points, that’s a fair old climb and descent. The hardest going is the stretch between Monterosso and Vernazza and that’s the one we tackled first. As we left town our tickets were checked at a control booth and from there on it was various degrees of steepness and plenty of perspirations as we climbed up the track.
The weather was fine but it doesn’t really warm up till about 11ish at this time of year – that was definitely a blessing. As we climbed the views back to Monterosso
Coastal View
On the Monterosso to Vernazza section of the Blue Trail. The veiws along the way were absolutely breathtaking. and along the coastline were just fantastic. We were walking through the vineyards and olive groves that we had seen from the boat yesterday. Sitting on the boat we wondered how people harvested the crops that appeared to be in such inaccessible positions – now we were finding out! In season those walking the track are actually in amongst the locals harvesting the fruit which must be an awesome experience. All quiet at the moment though. We saw the plots and the machinery but no one working the land.
The track varied from very good – close to the villages to pretty scary in some of the more remote parts. The sheer drops were protected by some form of railing (good in some places, pretty flimsy in others) but for the most part it was a case of walking along a track around a metre wide as it wound its way up across and down the countryside with drops of around 15 metres on the downside quite common. Steps were cut into the terrain and stepping stones placed to help provide a solid surface.
VERNAZZA
The trip was brilliant, we took plenty of water and had heaps of
Blue Trail
A steep portion of the track, the photo doesn't really do the height from bottom to top justice. It gives an idea of the make up of the trail in the good bits. stops – both to admire the views and get our breath back. The descent into Vernazza was also very steep – extremely hard on the knees! However it is such a beautiful town and again the views as we wound our way down were just sensational.
The trek from Monterosso to Vernazza is 3km and took us one and a half hours to complete. Partly because of the hard going and partly because we wanted to take the time to soak things up. Later that day Jeanette spoke to a guy who is also staying at Giardino Incantato who passed us on the track between Vernazza and Corniglia (he was going in the opposite direction to us), he boasted to Jeanette he did that part of the track in 45 minutes (it took us close to two hours – with stops), when he passed us he was belting along on his cellphone talking to someone at home about what was happening there! If you ever do the trail take the time to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the views – it REALLY isn’t a sprint to see who can do it in the quickest time, not if you
Vernazza
WOW! How beautiful does this look, no wonder Vernazza is widely regarded as the most beatiful of the Cinque Terre townships. want to get the most from the experience anyway.
Anyway our stop in Vernazza was very pleasant; we had a good look around the town and had lunch at a waterfront cafe overlooking the small boats bobbing gently in the clear blue water – magic. I had one beer which I instantly regretted when we began the climb out of Vernazza; it was pretty hot now and quite hard going. Still with plenty more stops (the balance had definitely swung towards getting breath rather than breathtaking views –although there were plenty of those)! Eventually we broke the back of it and cruised along a longish flat stretch before dropping down into Corniglia – town number 3 of 5.
Compared to the other towns Corniglia as a more rural aspect, it is perched about 100 metres above the sea front on top of a steep inaccessible rocky cliff. This would have helped to protect the village from the pirates that frequented the area in days gone by. It is a small town with very narrow streets and tall buildings, when we were walking through the town we are almost always in shade as the buildings protected whole streets from
Having a Beer
Waterfront Vernazza - A Chec Pilsner. another good one! Although I didn't think that on the steep climb out of Vernazza! the sun. At the end of one street there was a nice paved area at the cliffs edge which gave sensational coastal views.
By this time we were pretty knackered so we took the steep (what else would they be) stairs down to sea level and the railway station were we caught the local train home –very happy and very tired –a wonderful day in a most beautiful part of the world.
DINNER – RISTARANTE AL CAUGIO
For dinner we decided to walk up one of the little alleys near our B&B and try somewhere a bit off the beaten track and we struck gold! The Ristarante Al Caugio, it was brilliant, I ordered steak with mushrooms (after my last experience I was pretty nervous let me tell you!), Jeanette ordered a mince and spaghetti dish and they were both scrumptious! The great meal was complemented with nice relaxed, but efficient service. We’ll be going back again tomorrow.
One interesting thing though was the table next to us brought their dog into the restaurant, a Black Labrador no less, he sat quietly on the floor by their table while they ate! I’ve said before Italy has no regard
Corniglia
Each of the towns has its own special character. For Corniglia it's very narrow streets flanked by very tall buildings. for health and safety! To be fair he was a cute (if not so little) fella.
Early night tonight, tomorrow we will head off to the last two towns which by all accounts is reasonably easy walking so should be a nice relaxed day.
NOTE THERE ARE SOME EXTRA PHOTOS BELOW THE ADVERT AT THE BASE OF THIS PAGE
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0379s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb