Cinque Terre Italy
 

Hi we are a group of 9 hill walkers who will be arriving in Cinque Terre on 14th July for 5 nights, I am aware the trails through the 5 villages are extremely busy, despite this we are hoping to do the 7 mile hike to take in the Villages one of the days, any advice in which order to avoid rush hour!!!
Can anyone tell me if the higher trails are well sign posted?, does anyone have any other routes to recommend? we are staying in Chiavari if you know of it.

Regards Linber

The Sentiero Azzurro, the popular path that links the 5 villages, was closed for the most part when I was there in May. Only the portion between Monterosso and Vernazza was open and it was crowded.

You can find information on other hikes and status of trails here: http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/s...sp?id_lingue=2

We did hikes from Levanto to Monterosso; a hike from Manarola to Volostra and then to Corniglia; and the hike from Riomaggiore to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Montenero. All were well marked.

There are other trails listed on the website.

Even more than rush hour, you may want to avoid the painfully blazing sun in July. If you are staying n Chiavari, you will need to either get up at the very earliest moment to arrive in le Cinque Terre in time to complete most of your journey before high noon. Another plus to start early is that the earlier you start, then the less crowded the trails will be.

I also hope that your group is not carrying walking sticks. In recent years, not only are the hiking trails unpleasantly crowded, they are made even more unpleasant by walkers carrying poles and sticks as if they were ascending the Himalayas. On the narrow vinyard trails, these stick walkers take up twice as much space as someone without sticks. Many of the stick walkers have no practice using them, and they not only strike other people's legs (or sticks), these novices will carry them over their shoulders and come dangerously close to hitting other people in the face and head.

Please be courteous and leave the sticks and ski poles for the Alps and the snow. Italian seaside paths do not require sticks and it is just selfish to bring them to the narrow paths.

Actually, I found the poles (one for me, one for my husband) helpful for some of the steep descents--they do take the stress off your knees somewhat.

But I agree about being mindful of where you place them--especially on the trains. I had to dodge some poles strapped to the backpack of an oblivious hiker.

Germans love their walking sticks and wish I had a pair on some of the slippery parts of the trail. When you are older they do help the knees. It doesn't mean you have to be rude with them. There were parts of the trail that could only fit one person but no one pushed or was rude. We walked Monterosso to Vernazza and it was just enough for the four of us.

I bought my husband some collapsible poles for hiking...soo much easier to pack (went in his backpack). They worked really well.

If you go east to west in the a.m. the sun will be behind you, if you do it in the afternoon, you will be walking into sun. Plan accordingly and take the boat back for spectacular views

Are the trails particularly crowded around mid-September (11th/Thursday to be more precise)?

Bookmarking

Most of the seven-mile trail that connects the five towns has been closed for several years, due to the risk of landslides. The two-mile section between Monterosso and Vernazza is open, but tends to be very crowded, because it's one of the easier trails.

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/s...sp?id_lingue=2

September is the height of high season.