Cinque Terre day 2: Vernazza to Riomaggiore

Today, we hiked the trail between the remaining three towns of Cinque Terre… Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore…and the hike was even more enjoyable than yesterday’s.

Having left our apartment and had a cafe breakfast, we immediately headed uphill out of Vernazza through narrow stepped alleyways. A level path through terraces typical of the area followed, before we climbed again. Thankfully, we’d set off early so it wasn’t too hot yet.

After a while, we reached a little hamlet where a sign at a cafe bar informed us that we were half way to Corniglia. It was too soon for us to want to stop for refreshments though. We kept getting glimpses of Corniglia, perched on a headland. It’s the only one of the Cinque Terre towns that isn’t directly on the coast, but is just as pretty as the four seaside towns, painted in similar pastel colours.

As we wound our way along terraces and between stone walls, the views of the coast were stunning. There were some steep sections during the descent to Corniglia, but also some gentler sections, which gave our poor old knees some respite.

We were going to stop for a coffee but the cafe we chose was so busy and understaffed that we gave up waiting and set off again… up, up, up following an old paved path, quickly gaining height. We must be fit after our Haute Route hike, because we passed lots of people as we climbed. I did wonder if some people would make it, they looked so exhausted early in the ascent.

At the top, the path was level for quite a while, which made a welcome change. We traversed the hillside through trees then terraced vineyards, with wonderful views back to Corniglia and ahead to the next town, Manarola.

The level section eventually ended and never ending steep flights of stone steps curved downhill through pretty olive groves and vineyards. The end of the path can be seen behind John in the photo below. My legs were very pleased to reach the town… time for a rest and some lunch. We probably should have spent a bit more time exploring this town, but we were both eager to finish the hike, hoping we’d have time for a swim.

Riomaggiore is only a kilometre away from Manarola as the crow flies. However, of course, we had another steep hill to climb over. According to our walking guide, there are reportedly 620 steep steps on both sides, up and down! They felt vertical at times!

As we climbed, we were rewarded with stunning views in all directions… back to Manarola and ahead to Riomaggiore. The end of our hike was in sight, but first we had our final knee jerking descent. It’s amazing to think that this ancient path was used by local people for centuries before easier ways of travelling between the towns were developed.

We had some time to spare before we checked into our apartment so we wandered past the harbour and found the beach, choosing to swim from rocks rather than the pebble beach. The sea was divine! So much so, we went in twice before we dried off and headed into the town.

Having checked into our little apartment, we showered and went to explore, choosing a bar and a restaurant for dinner. We ate and drank rather too much over the course of the evening, but I think we earned it. The hike through Cinque Terre was tough… even John called it brutal in places… but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Another tick on my bucket list, and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.