Blogs from Vernazza, Liguria, Italy, Europe

These are the trip notes for today's suggested hike: Cinque Terre Park; Coniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso- The walk today really allows you to explore the National Park of the Cinque Terre. Starting from Monterosso, you walk along the olive groves with panoramic views of the sea. Your path continues gently towards Vernazza, an important and historical village being the only natural harbour of the Cinque Terre. Return by train. Distance 9km; approx. 4 hours walking. Ascent 300m, descent 300m. We started today's hike in Monterosso which is located at the very center of a tiny natural gulf. Starting from sea level, we climbed about 500 meters over a couple of hours to arrive at the Sanctuary of Soviore. This is the oldest sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the whole area. Recently the archaeological excavation conducted ... read more

Have wanted to visit this area ever since I knew Italy existed, it is so beautiful! Decided to do the whole Cinque Terra thing by train, as just too hard to park car etc, so up early and on the train direct to Monterosso which was handy as that is where we wanted to do our hike from - Monterosso to Vernazza - the scenery was amazing along the trail and some cute Italians were out selling their fresh berries and lemon and orange juices freshly squeezed. Lots of steps and quite steep at times, there were spots where you had to find a spot to step aside to let people get past you but all in all it was a great hike, very hot and sweaty by the end though and went through our litre ... read more

After navigating our way via bus and train to the city of La Spezia, we continued on to the first town of the Cinque Terre - Riomaggiori. Checking into the tourist info centre we quickly found out the seaside walk between the first and second towns (Via dell'Amore, or Lover's Lane) was closed due to landslips, and that the only option was to train on to the second town - Manarola. Arriving in Manarola, we were then told the same thing, in that the track all the way to the fourth town was also closed due to track deterioration. However, we didn't come to the Cinque Terre to train through it, and after studying a map we decided there was an alternate route directly up the side of the mountains. Hey - if it worked for ... read more

Just photos today from our lovely afternoon yesterday in Vernazza. It was very sad to leave the Ligurian coast this morning and our fantastic hotel Pasquale.... read more

Friday, July 8, 2011 Lazy Day My morning began late with a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant. The tourist crowd was not as extreme as it had been when I arrived yesterday afternoon. The beach was already populated with sun bathers and tiny naked children running amuck. Being in a beach town was so different than any of the cities I had visited so far. It was relaxed, made evident by the fact that most people wore very little clothing and flip flops all day, a stark contrast to Milano’s high fashion demands. I liked the lazy attitude. This was a vacation town, and everyone was enjoying it. Internet Café The internet point in town is on the main street. I uploaded a couple days’ worth of blogs and photos and checked my email. The girl ... read more