Ever since I visited Italy for the first time in 1997, the pictures of Cinque Terre captured me and twenty plus years later I finally visited for a day of hiking with my family. The Cinque Terre is a National Park and UNESCO Heritage Sight that combines the natural landscape of the hilly cliffs of the Italian Riviera with the stunning beauty of five rugged coastal towns. The clouds were threatening but we set out optimistic on a morning train from La Spezia (just south of the Park) to the furthest north of the 5 coastal towns- Monterosso al Mare. This town is the only one with a true beach but it wasn’t beach weather! A trail leaves from the southern end of town and 3.5 km later delivers you to Vernazza, the next town in the chain.

We had bought a Cinque Terre Family Card which gave us free access to all the open hiking trails, free trains between the towns and other small benefits like wifi and bathroom use in train stations. With our card in hand and the first train ride complete, we began the trail with enthusiasm all around. As we climbed the terraced hillsides, we were thankful for the clouds which meant less crowds and less sweat. It was incredible to see how farming families cultivated small scale olive groves and vineyards on the steep hills. If you look closely in this picture you can see the rail of a “coaster” that goes down the hillside. We did not see them in action, but the low tech carts and tracks seemed to be a system for hauling harvests up out of the valleys. Pretty soon the kids were wishing they were on the carts as we climbed more steps than we wished to count. Luckily cliffside views, wildflowers and the adventure-some narrow paths kept everyone mostly entertained for our two hour trek.

Just as hunger and complaints began to set in, we turned a corner and set our sights on the town of Vernazza set out around its natural harbour. The pastel coloured buildings and turquoise waters probably pop a little more with some sunlight but we were more than adequately impressed. One of my favourite elements of this hike was the variety of plant life growing on the verdant hills. You can see some cacti plants in the bottom of this photo. This is probably par for the course for coastal Mediterranean flora but it felt exotic to me.

I do not have a picture of the negotiating that happened post picnic lunch in Vernazza’s town square, but the two sides were rooting for a train to this next town of Corniglia vs. another 4 km hilly hike. Needless to say I am proud of these two who made it all the way to Corniglia by foot and were rightfully rewarded with generous gelatos. It was here that Denise actually found “pesto gelato”- basil lemon flavour that thrilled her palate. The hiking trails to the next town of Manarola were closed due to a rockslide that happened in 2011 so we all happily descended the 382 steps from this hilltop town to the train station below. Quickly we realized that hiking was superior to the train service, as the station information boards indicated that the next two trains were cancelled. By now it was 5:30pm and we almost decided to train home to La Spezia but we heard Manarola had beautiful late afternoon/sunset views so we made one last stop at town number four.

And it did not disappoint! We arrived in Manarola just as the sun was breaking through the clouds. We polished off the remains of our picnic on the rocks you can see in the bottom left of this picture before climbing up around the corner for some final photo opportunities. It was a unanimous decision that despite our original plan to visit all 5 towns, Riomaggiore would have to be left off the list- no one wanted to risk more cancelled trains at the end of a long day. So with weary feet we returned to La Spezia, indulged in some late night pizza and I fell asleep with some pretty splendid memories.