Cinque Terre
Took a train to the Cinque Terre (Five Lands..or villages) area on the northern Italian Riviera.
The Ligurian coast between Cinque Terre and Portovenere is a cultural landscape of great scenic and cultural value. The layout and disposition of the small towns and the shaping of the surrounding landscape, overcoming the disadvantages of a steep, uneven terrain, encapsulate the continuous history of human settlement in this region over the past millennium. The area is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The towns, jutting out into the Mediterranean and straight up the hills on the coast are connected by walking trails through eighteen kilometers of sheer rocky coastline with terraced hills and vineyards sloping steeply down to the sea. The five little villages are built into the rocks between the beach and the hills. You can hike, swim, drink red wine, and watch blazing Mediterranean sunsets far away from the tourist throngs in the Italian cities and the French Riviera. Centuries old footpaths and mule tracks wind about 500 to 1,000 feet above the sea, leading through olive groves and vineyards, orchards and chestnut woods.
Each village has its own character, they are a few minutes apart by train. The main railway between Rome and Paris runs along the coast, mainly in tunnels. Bob compares the trail to the Nepali Trail on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Extremely picturesque and very charming.
Vernazza is many peoples favorite village, dominated by the Round Tower and by the ruins of the medieval fortifications. It has a small harbor next to the village square.
Monterosso is pretty split into two by the tunnel and the mountains. If you are walking down from Vernazza, the old town is the first beached section and is well worth a walk around as it is loaded with lots of small, character-filled streets.
Famous for its vineyards and olive groves, Corniglia stands on the principal road over a rocky cliff dropping to the sea; it is the only village far from the sea but it can be reached by some steps.
Founded during the 12th century, Manarola probably is the most characteristic village of the Cinque Terre; the old church of San Lorenzo is in baroque style.
From Manarola starts the picturesque trail called ” Via dell’ Amore “, carved out of the rock above the sea, that joins Manarola to Riomaggiore. We stayed in Riomaggiore…the least touristed of the towns. Bob keeps calling it Rigamoroni!
The local internet was owned by a family that also rents out rooms. The woman was an American married to an Italian whose family has lived in the town for over a hundred years. I asked her how these towns supported
themselves before tourism. She said that tourism has actually been pretty good for about 30 years but not to the extent that it is now (especially since Rick Steves has reported that it is one of the off-the-beaten-track areas of Europe!!)
Years ago the men would leave on ships for months at a time-dealing in contraband-which they apparently could get away with due to its geographic isolation from the rest of the country. We continued talking-about my trip to Europe in 1965 and that the countries were very poor-even found dirt floors in rural France. She said that yes, after WWII the US pumped a lot of money into the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Europe but it took another 20-30 years for it all to trickle down and affect the living standards of the people generally.
We stayed in a private apartment owned by a nice old gentleman who “selected” us at the train station. The apartment hung on the side of a hill about 600 feet above the Mediterranean-couldn’t take your eyes off the view!
Tags: Best Places, Cinque Terre, Europe, Europe, Italy, Trains, Transportation, UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Zoe
Hi LeeAnn,
I am traveling and all my notes are at home. I don’t know if I still have anything written down anyway.
The older man came up to us in Riomaggiore as we were getting off the train. If he is still in business I bet he’ll be there again unless his apartment is full.
Thanks for reading the blog and posting! And enjoy
Cinque Terre…we sure did!
Eunice
Hi,
My boyfriend and I are going to be in CT April 15-17, and are probably going to do what you did..get off the train and find a place to stay. Your accomodations with the older gentleman sounds perfect.
Is there a way to contact him..phone, email? I know this was a while ago, but you never know…
Thank you for your reply!
LeeAnn