More Day Dreaming: Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre are five coastal villages in the province of La Spezia in the Ligurian region of Italy. The five villages (from North to South) are Monterrosso al Mare, Vernaza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

I found this above map on the Wandering Italy blog. I wanted to post it for future reference in case I ever get to go back. To see a larger version, click on it.

Back in 2002 when I traveled to the Cinque Terre we stayed in the village of Riomaggiore (see the picture below). We took the train from Riomaggiore to Monterosso and began from that end. I had read that this is the best way to approach the Cinque Terre because the most challenging and steepest portion on the trail is from Monterosso to Vernazza and the trail from Manarolo to Riomaggiore, Via dell'Amore, is the easiest. The trail from Monterosso to Vernazza, is the steepest but also one of the most picturesque and rewarding as it winds through olive orchards and vineyards. The hardest part for me was from Corniglia to Manarolo. The coastal path, which apparently is relatively flat and easy, from Corniglia to Manarolo was under construction so we were forced to take the challenging path up through the terraced vineyards and olive orchards!