After a hearty breakfast we headed out for a great day of hiking along the paths between the towns of the Cinque Terre. It was a beautiful day, in the high 20s and maybe low 30s in the sun by mid afternoon. We started from our town of Monterosso Al Mare at about 8:45 for the 90 minute hike to the next town, Vernazza. This is the hardest part of the hike with lots of up and downs. The trail is very well maintained but is very very busy. Even at that somewhat early time, there were many folks on the trail. It was a good hike and we were ready for a bit of a break when we got to Vernazza. After a bit of a rest, we headed on to the town of Cornigila. It wasn’t as tough of a go but the trail was a bit more exposed and was quite hot. We had lunch in the garden patio of a restaurant in town. It was a tasty meal of spaghetti. From there we had to take a train to Manarola as the trail between Corniglia and Manarola was closed for repair. This was no big deal as by this time we were pretty tired. The last stretch of Manarola to Riomaggiore was a short 20 minute saunter along a paved trail. Nothing like the first two legs of the hike in the morning. We took a ferry back to Monterosso and got back to the hotel about 4:30.
It was a great day in a very beautiful part of the world. You should plan to come here some time. You won’t be sorry.