Cinque Terre hiking trails: let's post references on a super thread
 

I think we need a central reference point for detailed information about the Cinque Terre trails: specifically, the degree of difficulty of each individual hike. It may exist, but I have missed it. (It doesn't exist at the CT, either-- if you expect trail signage, forget it.)
Having just returned from hiking Vernazza to Corniglia, I wish I'd done more research about the different trails. The one we chose is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it's almost 100 percent stone stairs UP for 90 minutes (more if you stop to admire the view and catch your breath in the shade). I guess I was expecting a path that took an incline, not a stone stairway. Those stairs get tiring. At least I was wearing good walking shoes. I saw some poor people-- probably uninformed about the trail, too-- who were wearing flip-flops; even one girl who was barefoot. Also, lots of people who looked to be in their 70s (who may have been in better shape than me) IMHO, you want to be prepared to walk that trail, with its loose footing and sharp drop-offs.
Had I known better, I would have walked the reverse, from Corniglia, so we were going downhill to Vernazza. Or I might have chosen the two hikes from Corniglia going south, which I think are easier.
Judging from all the CT questions on Travel Talk, I suggest we do a superthread on the TRAILS THEMSELVES: degree of difficulty, hiking times, photos.
I don't mean information on CT lodging or restaurants or gelato or weather there, though that might be a good idea for different superthreads.
Here's one link I found, which has a host of other links all pertaining to hiking the CT:
http://goeurope.about.com/cs/cinquet...cinque_map.htm

anecdotal info is probably more useful, in my book, than the official trail maps/guides. I accessed the 5Terre park site's info before I hiked the trails between towns a couple of weeks ago - and it seems like we both hiked the "hard" direction :-) I left Vernazza at 9 a.m. and met my wife in Riomaggiore at noon for lunch (Careful about making plans to meet anywhere but the rail stations in the towns LOL... when I finally found her 45 minutes later than our meeting time, we wound up riding the train up one stop and ate in Manarola), then I rode to Monterosso and walked back that afternoon to Vernazza. Again with the "hard" way! My knees are still getting back at me for the stone steps (part of the blame has to go to various campanili!) Here's the link for the PDF's from the ParcoNationale (the site also has a lot of good local resources for lodging, etc.):

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/40_2.asp?id_lingue=2

Ronin, you're right about the need for anecdotal info. Maybe others will post their stories here, and then I could summarize it all in one descriptive write-up of each of the CT trails.
For instance, I don't know if any of the maps tell you if a 'trail' is a series of stone steps. The distance and the elevation weren't as challenging to me, as the constant stair-stepping up.
Here's one description I found, on the link I posted above:
"These are my trip report notes from our walk from Riomaggiore to Monterosso in June 2000. We did not do the whole trail in one day, but in a combination of two separate half days. We returned in September 2003 and did the trail in one day.
 
June 2000: We drove to Riomaggiore and parked in the 5 level car park at the top of the town. The road ends at this car park, so the parking is easy to find.

* The trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola is paved (it is called the "Via dell'Amore" or Path of Love) and is short, only 20 minutes between the towns.
* From Manarola on the trail is not paved. It becomes narrow and steep in many places, but the trail never becomes excessively difficult. The walk from Manarola to Corniglia takes one hour. The last half of the trail walks you up a beautiful switchback staircase that goes from sea level to the town up on a cliff.
* From Corniglia to Vernazza the trail gets more narrow and includes lots of climbing and descending as it makes its way along the coast. It takes about an hour and a half.
* The last portion, from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare, is the longest. It takes about two hours with lots of up and down. I counted 700 steps down to Monterosso at the end.

You could do the trail easily in one day (about five hours) - unless you get caught in a horrible storm like we did."

It's all personal, of course, but I would not say I could do the entire trail "easily" in one day. Now, my husband, son and daughter could-- but they're a different story.
Next time, I think I'd do the bottom portion, from Riomaggiore to Manarolo to Corniglia. Then on to Vernazza, if I felt up to it, and the weather was good.
We were fortunate the weather in early May was low 70s and beautifully sunny. We found shady places to get relief from the sun, and I was really happy we weren't doing the trail in really hot summertime.
Anyone else care to post their experiences on the CT trails, and recommendations?

ttt

VS :-"

bookmarking, I like the idea of this thread ! Sometimes I wish we could post pictures (maps etc) here !

I am going to CT in June and would appreciate more clarification. For those of you who have done it, after all is said and done, which direction is best? i seen people post to go the direction that the sun is at your back (don't have the notes in front of me and don't remember which direction that is!) I've also been told the hike from Levanto to Monterroso is less crowded and very nice (2 hrs) and the hike from Monterroso to Vernazza is the most difficult. Also, there is a page on www.slowtrav.com with some trail details, but not the kind of anecdotes you are talking about here. We plan to spend two days hiking so there is plenty of time to wander and explore. If you could suggest the best way to break this up considering it will be HOT, please let me know. Also, dumb question: Any bushes when nature calls on the longer hikes?? Thanks so much. (BTW, we are in-shape, middle aged, good walkers. will wear good sneakers)

There is a bus/shuttle that leaves the train station about 10 minutes after each train that will take you to the top for free. You pass the train station on the trail. I'm not sure of the schedule for the return if you are taking the train on to another CT stop.

ttt

alison-

From what I have read, with the proper pass you can vary how you experience the CT.

e.g. We aren't staying in the CT, but near enough (in June/July), and on our CT day we plan to take a train to Manarola for our first stop.

From Manarola we plan to walk north for the approx. 1 hour to Corniglia.

From Corniglia, we will probably train to Vernazza. From Vernazza we will walk a little south for the views, and then return to Vernazza to have lunch - hopefully something with pesto.

From Vernazza it will be train or ferry to Monterrosso and hopefully a swim on the beach.

After that, it will be the ferry back south to Manarola and approx. a 20 min. walk to Riomaggiore for some evening snacks and drinks and a beautiful sunset.

Well, that is our plan and dream. ;-)

VS :-"

bookmarking

Bookmarking, also!

ttt

Viaggio, your plan sounds like a well-informed and good one. Have fun there, and remember to post your report, ok?

Here's what I wrote re: our Cinque Terre day, in my trip report thread about Santa Margherita, Cinque Terre and Portofino:

"We took the train to Vernazza from Santa Margherita, and had a simple picnic of yoghurt and fruit at the waterfront. Before leaving Vernazza, I picked up a card from a hotel there, which looks nice, the Gianni Franzi, Piazza Marconi 1, www.giannifranzi.it.

We headed up the trail to Corniglia, expecting it to take about 1.5 hours, which was correct. It is a breath-taking walk, in more ways than one. The views are amazing, and the uphill stair stepping takes your breath away, too! Actually, in retrospect, I wish we’d taken the train all the way down to the southernmost town, Riomaggioire, then walked up to Manarolo, and on to Corniglia. Those two walks would probably be less strenuous than the one we selected, which is all uphill and all stairs. However, there were plenty of spots to stop in the shade and view the unbelievably clear water below, and the gorgeous coastline.

Once we arrived in Corniglia, we took a break in a pretty little piazza. We found a little market to purchase a bread, cheese, tomato and wine snack, while we decided how to spend the rest of our visit in Cinque Terre. I chose to take the train to the next town, Manarolo, while my daughter opted for the hike, since it was the one walk she hadn’t been able to do yet.

We decided to meet at the train station in Manarolo, and I set out to walk to the Corniglia train station. Again in retrospect, I should have just taken the hike, because it is a long walk down to the train station, on another seemingly endless stairway. I probably walked as far to the train station as the hike to Manarolo would have been. (I’ve since discovered there’s a free shuttle from the town of Corniglia to its train station.)

We easily met in Manarolo, which is quite small. I found a nice little gelato shop there, and we again had the pleasant task of deciding how to proceed with our day’s itinerary. After a short break, we caught the ferry boat back to Vernazza, in order to see the beautiful coastline from the sea. From Vernazza, we hopped back on the train to Santa Margherita Ligure.

It was a great day at Cinque Terre, and we were lucky to have the amazing weather. The air temperature was probably in the low 70s, with a slight cool breeze off the water. "

My wife and I did the hike two years ago. We're both in our early 50s and found the trails not too hard. We stayed in Vernazza and did the section from there to Monterosso early in the morning before the sun got hot.

We then trained backed to Riomaggiore and hiked west back to Vernazza with a stop for breakfast in Manarola.

Total time including breaks was about 5.5 hours. We stopped to take pictures and admire the views. I think going from Riomaggiore to Monterosso (yes, sun is at your back) is best as the rate of incline is easier than going the other way. As another poster had said it's easier going down those steps than up. It's like a giant stairmaster.

I guess my advice is to dress appropriately (it can get very hot), wear good shoes, take water and don't rush it. Enjoy the views and smell the flowers.

And try the fresh pasta with pesto at Gianni Franzi in Vernazza!

Well, first of all, would someone please clarify if there is more than ONE trail which links all five of the locations????

Intrepid, that's a great question. I am confused, too, but I saw on a map of Cinque Terre that there may be an inland, longer trail. Anyone have first-hand experience on that trail, and can describe its hikes?
BC, your report is very enlightening. Thanks! Unfortunately, Gianni Franzi had just closed after lunch when I stopped in.

Correction: We actually took the ferry up all the way to Monterosso, not Vernazza, on our way back to Santa Margherita. It made for a longer time on the water.

There is really only one "main" path that connects the villages. All the places except Corniglia are at sea level so the path follows the coastline longitudinally but has some good climbs.

Remember though that there are other smaller villages and farms further up the mountainside and before the road was put in they were all connected by trails. So there are trails that run from the water up the slope and trails that interconnect once you're up the hill. Even though you are within park boundaries those trails may not be repaired very often and show as secondary on the map.

You have to pay to hike the park but you get a nice little pocket map that shows all the trails and roads and points of interest. It also gives the average time from place to place. That may be the map you're thinking of MaureenB

This website has a map and some explanation of both trails.

http://goeurope.about.com/od/cinquet...que_hiking.htm

VS

Hey MaureenB, thanks for posting your CT experience again. I remember your writing of your time there - part of the reason I felt I should come up with a "plan". Your description of the place makes me yearn for my own experience ... thank you.

VS

bookmarking

This is great info.I have been researching hikes for our family to do in the Cinque Terre.We will be there in August(hot)and staying in Rapallo and want to do a day trip into the Cinque Terre..maybe train and hiking.We are all fit..but we do have a 9 year old girl.She might not be able to do more than 3 hours, or maybe longer if we break it up with lunch.The one Maureen did sounds fabulous.My hubbie and son and I could do it.I have noticed many links pertaining to the Cinque Terre.Maybe we will go to the Parco Nationale that ronin suggests.

Anamaria, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the hike the way we did it. I suggest hiking from Corniglia to Vernazza, if you do that section, so you're going downhill on those steps.
Even better, personally, I wish we'd started from the southernmost town and hiked up to Corniglia.

Alison:
We also are in our mid-50s and in reasonable shape. We did the whole trail in two parts, none too difficult. But our favorite by far, was from Levanto to Monterosso. We then took the train back to Levanto, after spending some time in Monterosso. It was beautiful.
Donna and Dave, Pittsburgh, PA

I have pictures of the trail that I deliberately took for future travelers. Tinyurl.com/NQLXG

In 2004, We hiked the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza. I wasnt paying attention and my foot slipped off the trail and I almost fell down the slope save for a fence that just happened to be on this one small section of the trail. Here is a little excerpt from a prior post:

I did end up losing my footing on gravel and my right foot slipped off the edge of the path which caused be to fall and really twist my left ankle. For some blessed reason, that particular section of the path had a split rail wooden fence which i grabbed to prevent me going right off the path, down a steep hill where i would have landed on some pretty knarly trees and bushes and god knows what.

It was very scary and somewhat cautionary since had I broken my foot, it would have been pretty interesting in terms of getting out of there. I just had to keep going till I reached Vernazza and took the train back. My ankle was huge and bruised for days but I made it. As we sat in the Vernazza, we saw the Italian helicoptor rescue squad doing a pick up of someone off the trail. My husband and I just looked at each other and thought, "oh, thank god that wasnt us..."

Thank you for your posts, everyone. I will put together a summary of comments for each trail. Chicagolori, I am glad your story didn't have an even worse ending. It makes the point I, too, was concerned about: be prepared for those trails, as they are challenging and tricky. Even being prepared, as you were, accidents can happen and you are on your own.

As someone who's hoping to visit the Cinque Terre area in mid July, this thread has been most useful.
Has anyone hiked these paths in July? My concern is that we'll barely be able to move for the crowds, and all whilst hot and muggy. The temperature and humidity of Rome in July are almost identical to our summer climate here in Brisbane (Australia) and I'm assuming at best that the Cinque Terre region will only be slightly cooler.
As we are staying at Lucca, it will be at least 8am before we can start a walk. Will it be hot and unpleasant by 9am?
On the topic of stairs- 2 points on the going down vs going up. If you have any knee problems, down could well be more painful than up, and for those who are unaccustomed to stairwork, down frequently results in sorer muscles the next day (and the next).

We hiked the trails last year (50-ish couple) without any particular difficulty, but I run all the time so that conditioning was no doubt helpful. However, the issue of wet trails needs to be addressed as well as level of difficulty. Early the morning we hiked, it poured the rain for quite a long time, and there were several places where I found the trails somewhat unnerving because of how slippery they were. I wouldn't have missed the hike for that reason, but might be helpful to put that consideration in the back of your mind when you go. Also, there were a few places where there were drop-offs without any guards that made me leary, but for anyone who has a genuine fear of heights, be warned there are a few places that might make you uncomfortable. We hiked early in the week, and a lady I met who had hiked on the weekends (and is an avid hiker) said that there were lots of young people on the trails who were less than concerned about giving "right of way" or common courtesy to others. I am sure the area has many more young people in summer when the schools and colleges are out. If I heard someone coming when we were on a narrow area with drop-offs, I always stopped, plastered myself against the inside and played the courteous one so that I didn't have to be on the edge. I think there is some unwritten rule about giving the person going up the benefit of the doubt, but of course I always tried to get to a place where it didn't really matter. Great place. I loved it. PJK

Good point about wet trails. The stairstep trail between Vernazza and Corniglia is comprised of hand-made rock steps, which are worn slick in most places. The steps would be fairly treacherous when wet. Thanks for the heads-up.

Here's a comment Nessundorma posted on another thread:
"The famed "Lover's Walk" between Riomaggiore and Manarola is the shortest and easiest, but it is also the least rewarding (most of it is concrete, there is chain link fencing, etc.)"

Anyone else have specific information or advice to post on any of the CT trails?

This has become a nice meaty informative post, one that should be printed and carried by us folks who intend to do the walk...well done posters. (is that better than saying bookmark??)

I am going to try to transfer a message I wrote on another board rather than re-writing the whole thing. Here goes-

It will take you about 7 hours to hike the entire distance from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. Part of the trail is fairly rigorous and that timeframe does not include actually looking at the various towns. 7 hours is your hiking time. We are photo freaks so we wanted time to look at stuff and take a bunch of photos. Everyone we talked to who had walked the entire trail in one day had sore calves the next day or they had abandoned the walk along the way.

Our first day, We hiked from Manarola to Riomaggiore. We were enjoying the beach at the end of the trail in Riomaggiore when what seemed like a thousand people descended on Riomaggiore all at once. We were there on a Sunday on a three day weekend so it was a instance nightmare. We hightailed it back to Manarola and hiked the upper trail to Volastra to get away from the crowds. The upper trail is a little more difficult to follow. Some times you are in fields and stairways, other times you are on the highway. The route indicators, painted red and white stripes, are some times hard to find. We stopped in Volastra for a beer and peanut break and then went from Volastra to Corniglia, and then Corniglia to Manarola for a total of about 8 hours.

The next day we when the hoards of tourists were gone, we went from Manarola to Corniglia, up the 33 flights of stairs to the trail, and then on to Vernazza- about 3+ hours. The stairs in Corniglia have long steps with short risers so they are doable but still annoying!! We browsed the shops of Vernazza, (bought a beware of cat ceramic tile - Attenti ai gatti), drank a beer from the grocery store sitting on a park bench in the plaza, and we finally had a pizza at one of the outdoor cafes(beer 5E each, pizza 8E). I was happy with only three hours of hiking.

Another day we took the train from Manarola where our apartment was, to Vernazza and then hiked to Monterosso. We had read on one of the boards that the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso was easier than the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza. I had to agree. The portion of the trail is a little rigorous as you go up and down the trail often without any railing between you and the sea or mountain below. Anyway, at the end of the trail going into Monterosso are stairs. It is not a big deal- but I would imagine starting with the stairs - for at least 30 minutes would be more difficult. We enjoyed the beach at Monterosso. We went to the grocery store got a 1L box of wine to eat with our brown bag lunch.
Hope this helps someone. lynclarke

Lynclarke, thanks for all the information. It is very helpful, as you have hiked all of the trails. And the tip about Volastra to avoid the crowds is interesting.
Would you be able to take a couple of minutes to post a simple description of each segment of the basic CT hikes, individually, and in geographic order? To say how difficult, how long to hike it, tips, etc? I know it's probably all there, but if you think of each segment as a distinct hike, it might remind you of more details.
Thanks!

Kathryncee posted this advice on another thread:

"from Santa Margherita Ligure, take the 8.55am train to the furthest town, Riomaggiore, in CT. It should take approximately 1 hour. By lunch you should arrive at the 3rd town, Corniglia. It is an easy walk/hike up to this point, with the exception of the stairs leading up to Corniglia from the trail, 365 steps!

"Since you are leaving SML mid-afternoon, I would suggest you train to the next 2 towns. Vernazza, the prettiest of the 5 is a must see. If you have time, have lunch at Gambero Rosso by the tiny beach. After lunch, you can continue on to Monterosso al Mare by train then train back to Santa Margherita Ligure."

Still looking for first-hand experiences on the Cinque Terre trails. Who else can add in?

I've only walked one section of the CT, the stretch between Manarola & Corniglia. Let's see .... that was in May of 2002. I found it a pleasant walk; took me about an hour at a leisurely pace with a few pauses for photo ops.

Another question that's been raised over the years (and I'll try to track down one of those threads) is the issue around height. I've seen folks ask whether or not someone who's afraid of heights might have any problems walking the trails. Admittedly, the stretch that I explored did have a dramatic drop-off; it was a non-issue for myself, however like I said that topic did arise for discussion.

Other helpful links .... for anyone who wants to take the boat between the towns, here's the website with schedule --- http://www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/

And on another related topic ...
shoes to walk in the Cinque Terre >>>
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34814921

A girlfriend and I are getting ready for our first trip to Italy at the end of July (I know, the heat). We have reserved three days for our CT Adventure. I've read all the wonderfull information that everyone has provided. Many thanks! I do have a few, somewhat novice questions. We are planning on spending a night or two at one of the towns to break up the trip and get the most out of the experience. chicagolori has provided some wonderful pictures (especially of Monterossa). Did anyone have any input on a town to stay in over the other four? Also, did you all just return to the town you started your hike at to collect your personal belongings, or did you backpack them with you? My friend an I are used to lugging around 60 pound packs, but it seems that they would make things worse, and even more dangerous, since the trails will be so populated during this time of year. Thanks for any tid bits!

fswazir:

We just returned from Italy. We spent 2 nights (not enough time) in the CT in Monterosso, which we loved. It has a beachy feel to it and the restaurants were great.

As for hiking, we'd just done an 8 day hiking tour in Tuscany and the mountains, thus had planned an "easy" hike in the CT. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza and it was anything but easy, quite difficult in fact. I'm glad I had not seen the previous posters who mentioned falls. It took us exactly 1 hour and 45 minutes, and we stopped for scenic views but also to catch our breaths. We were too tired when we arrived in Vernazza to do anymore hiking.

There were many people on the trail, some with no manners at all, as PJK has stated, so be careful. And as he said, plaster yourself against the inner wall when the throngs come at you. I would not attempt this hike with a large backpack. We also had the hot sun in our faces (June 7th). Even considering the difficulty, it was a hike with nothing but incredible scenery and breathtaking views everywhere.

MaureenB, when you compile the SuperThread, will you please post a link to it on this thread? I have bookmarked this one (and don't totally trust the search function of this board!)

Thanks!

Thanks MaureenB,

bookmarking.

After reading further, I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for child-friendly sections? We will be hiking with kids ages 8 through 13. I think a hike-ferry-train combo would be a fun adventure for them.

This will be in August, when it is hot and humid and all of Europe is on holiday. :)