Cinque Terre is as Beautiful and Unique as Advertised

The Five Villages

Cinque Terre lives up to the hype.  These were originally 4 remote 1000-year-old fishing villages, plus one village perched on an outcropping. Olives, grapes and fish. They were only accessible by boat and were connected to each other by foot trails. The inhabitants built houses close together, that cling to the rocks, and towers to watch for pirates. Now these picturesque villages and trails are tourist attractions. Grapes, olives and fish are still part of the economy too.

We stayed 4 nights Vernazza, and had three wonderful, memorable days exploring the 5 villages that make up the Cinque Terre National Park, including the spectacular trails between the villages. Each day we hiked a section of the Sentiero Azzurro (the blue trail) in the morning, took a break in our apartment during the afternoon (when the day tourists flood the towns) and each evening we enjoyed some quieter time in one of the towns. 

Vernazza, our Home Base

We found that the villages filled up in late morning and were empty by about 6 pm. Here’s what it looked like on the afternoon we arrived, walking from the train station towards the harbor. The vast majority come by train for the day, wander along the main streets and leave in the late afternoon.

Our apartment in Vernazza was up a series of stairs on the south side of the main square. The last few steps were steep and narrow.

The apartment windows faced the square, and the view just peaking over the top of the building in front of us.  No view of the Mediterranean or the square, but a nice view of the buildings on the opposite side of the square, including the church and bell tower, only about 150 meters away as the swallow flies.  The hourly chimes are loud and beautiful. It was a great refuge in the afternoons and quiet at night. Well, quiet after the bar closed down two floors below us.

We liked Vernazza the best of all the villages. Colorful houses clinging to a rocky peninsula with one main road through the village leading to the main piaza and harbor. Foot paths on either side of the main street climb up to the houses. No vehicles allowed during the day. Vans with supplies come in early in the morning to restock the stores and restaurants and take out the trash. Just foot traffic during the day. Very photogenic. Click on the photos below to see the full images.

On the first day it was windy with a threat of rain. The Mediterranean sea was a bit angry.  Due to the weather forecast, not many people were on the trail.   We hiked from Vernazza to Corniglia, explored Corniglia then took the train back to Vernazza.  It was a bit windy but never rained and was a beautiful hike. 

Via dell’Amore

In the evening we took the train to Riomaggiore and walked the Via dell’Amore walkway to Manarola and back again. The walk is about 50 meters above sea level, so we had great views of the waves dashing on the rocks below. An extra treat for being there on a windy and a bit stormy day. We felt lucky to be here after the trail was reopened just last year after a devastating land-slide in 2012.

Monterosso Hike

The second day we took the train to Monterosso then hiked back to Vernazza.  This section took us through more trees and other vegetation. There were a few more people on the trail, but not as many as there could have been, as there was a one day train strike that cancelled many trains.

Manarola Hike

On the third day, we took the train to Manarola then a bus to Volastra, a small town situated on the mountain above Manarola. This saved us walking up a whole lot of stairs.  This part of the trail is over a thousand feet above sea level.  We walked out through terraced vinyards with expansive views of the Mediterranean and the costal cities of Manarola and Corniglia.  The descent into Corniglia is very steep, so we chose to backtrack to Volastra and walk down those hundreds of stone steps back to Manarola.

During our stay we enjoyed good food, including trofie al pesto, focaccia, gnocchi, pasta carbonara, fresh salads, and a lot of gelato.

It is hard to leave this beautiful little fishing village.  While each village has it’s own charm, we liked Vernazza best as a home base.  It still has that charm even though thousands of tourists pour through this village and the other four villages every day.

Pisa

Before arriving in Vernazza we spent two nights in Pisa. We again took another walking tour to learn something of the history of Pisa.  The tour was complicated by another tour:  The Tour of Italy.  The 10^th stage of the bike race ended right where our walking tour started, so there was loud thumping music, loudspeaker announcements and a whole lot of people in the area. Bike racing is a serious event in Europe. Just one example: The miles of fencing through town was put up in the evening and overnight before the race, and was taken down in the evening and overnight to move to the next stage. The same process for the officiating trailers, hospitality trailers for VIP’s, advertising etc.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The leaning tower was an engineering failure but modern-day advertising success. The foundation was laid in 1173, and the tower was built in three stages over 200 years, including long pauses which allow the foundation to settle some.  Over time it continued to lean to the south, reaching over 5 degrees in 1990. It was then stabilized at around nearly 4 degrees, by removing soil under the high side.  The soil in this area is poor for construction, plus the original foundation was only 3 meters deep. Interestingly, the original architect is in question.

The tower is the stand-alone bell tower of the Pisa Cathedral.  They built the tower separate from the Cathedral, on the side closest to the town at that time.  There is also a cemetery building and a huge baptistry built in the same complex.  All the buildings have foundation problems and are no longer perfectly upright.  The tower leans the most because its footprint is so small and original foundation so shallow.

The Pisa Cathedral was beautiful on the inside and the front portion is also sinking. The Church brought pieces of Roman buildings to incorporate into the facade (with words and symbols upside down) to visually represent the superiority of Christianity over the previous Roman empire.

The cemetery building was hit by a bomb in WWII, but was repaired. It leans noticeably too.

The large “wedding cake” baptistry leans a bit to the north.

More gelato was consumed, along with another pizza and some lasagna.  As a side note, ever since Rome we have been traveling with some great French butter, and the supply has been dwindling as we bring home bread of various kinds as a snack.

Next up: Florence.