We started early, as promised/threatened. The walking path up and over the ridge wasn’t easy, but it didn’t really warrant the “Expert hikers only” signs. Definitely no good for flip flops, which there are signs about, but the main thing is to beat the heat. We carried eight litres of water for the 5km hike we’d planned, and made it to Manarola by 09:30; it was already getting too hot to be walking.
We quickly shelved our plan to walk the rest of the way to Riomaggiore, since we found the Via dell’ Amore was also closed, and since it was still early, we bought a Cinque Terre Pass from the station, which gave us unlimited use of the trains and the chance to walk on the most popular northernmost trails, between Monterosso and Corniglia, too. This was gonna be a big day.
Manarola felt bigger than Corniglia, though I’m not sure there’s much in it. The villages are similar, but the differences are interesting: Corniglia in particular is high above the sea and has much less of a harbour to focus on, which makes it unique among the five.
We had some yummy focaccia, and decided since it was early that we’d make a day of it and buy the pass for the day, and see all the villages.
Before we went on to Riomaggiore, we found a perfect swimming spot. The water is all very deep, but there are bouy-and-rope marked limits for the boats and to provide a little safety when swimming.
We weren’t going to go in, but the boys (and I) really wanted too and it was definitely the right choice, with hindsight. Jennie’s brilliant work taking them to Ainslie Park swimming lessons every Friday afternoon is paying off, and it was good to show them that it’s all for much more than just mucking about at the Leisure Centre.
For me: a massive treat to swim in the sea without any Raynaud’s when I got out. I could have spent all day there.
The train to Riomaggiore, the southernmost village, took us to some delicious pizza…
We’ve realised that with the current heat (38ºC+, and feels-like 40º or more), we need to adopt a Mediterranean pattern to our day, so we headed home for a bit of terrace/indoor time, before heading out in the evening again.
Monterosso was intended as a recce of the beaches, which we’d visit tomorrow… but we got off the train, and Jennie and I both had the same unvoiced reaction the moment we left the station… “don’t like it!”.
It’s a lovely place, but in the light of the other villages we’d been in, it just felt like a bit of a cardboard cut-out to us. The beaches were almost entirely stabilimenti, where you pay to get a deckchair or two. Those are squeezed in, and it’s not really the beach scene that we’re used to. There are free beaches, so we’ve got the option of going early… but I don’t think we will.
The giant and castle are pretty cool though!
We took the walking trail out, which had gorgeous views of the water, but the woman who sold me the pass and said it was much easier than the trail we did in the morning was… lying. Loads of steps! So some moaning from the boys, but actually not that much.
The coastal trail we took goes to Vernazza, the last village we were going to visit. We were probably the last ones off it, arriving just as the sun set, though we did see some people going the other way who had at least another forty-five minutes to do before they’d get to Monterosso. I hope they turned back, as we couldn’t see any head torches and it’d be risky in the dark.
We were in Vernazza for the shortest time, but it’s tied with Corniglea as my favourite villages. Arranged with a square leading on to a harbour, it felt just like Luca, and was absolutely full of life that evening. As we got there, they were damping down the sand in front of the bay, and had a couple of goals set up for that night’s footy – a very passionate display on the little pitch, complete with rowing boats to fetch the ball when it went too far out of bounds. The goalies spent plenty of time heading out there to get it too though.
The gelato was great, but unfortunately the boys didn’t like the strawberry sorbet that they chose… so Jennie and I had quite a lot!
We headed up to the station, and found we’d missed the train by ten minutes! It’s really easy to get into the chilled pace of life here, and just assume you can hop on a train whenever, but that’s not true in the evening. We went back to watch a bit more of the football, but getting (quite gently) hit by the ball ended that for Gideon. “Can we just go!?! It’s bad enough that I have to watch my least-favourite sport but now I’ve been hit and had half of the Cinque Terre laughing at me!”
They weren’t, but we went, and we waited. Some reading time helped pass the remainder of the hour before our two-minute train ride, and we all climbed the 383 steps from the station without complaint…
We negotiated the morning’s plans on the way up: skip the beach, take a lie-in, and spend some time exploring Corniglia for our last day.
The air-con had come on, and at 00:30, bed was very welcome.
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