April 11-25, 2023
If you have been following along from the beginning we mentioned that a few of our accommodations were only reserved a couple days prior to arrival. We did look at available rentals within Cinque Terra and there were a couple that we almost went for! but with the car we opted for Rapallo, which we really enjoyed.
We hiked the Cinque Terre trails a few years ago and we wanted to do that again. The Stazione di Rapallo was a short 5 minute walk from the apartment. With a take away caffe' in hand we boarded an early train to Monterosso al Mare, trip took approximately 35-40 minutes.
Upon arrival we walked to the beach, which is literally a stone's throw from the stazione. The temperature was nice for hiking and the skies were very overcast...it would clear during our hike! We stayed in Monterosso on our last visit so we knew the town well. Monterosso al Mare basically has an "old town" and a "new town" connected by a lovely seaside promenade and foot tunnel. After visiting the "Giant" aka Neptune we walked to the old town for breakfast.
At the far end of old town we paid an admission to the trails, really don't mind paying especially since they have to maintain this high traffic trail. FYI, money is being spent rebuilding the low section between Manarola-Riomaggiore, landslide took it out in 2012 and it's expected to reopen in July 2024. It is obviously a popular hike, however we started out around 9am and we saw few hikers most of the day!
The 2 times we've hiked here we started from Monterosso, and in my opinion the first hour is the toughest part going up, up, up! It's such a relief when the trail has level areas or slight downhill grades. Of course getting to the towns is the goal here, but between Vernazza and Corniglia there is a great stopping point named Bar Gabbiano, oustanding views, wonderful lemon drinks and ice cold beer!!
I won't bore you with the minor hiking details, I'll just load up some pics!
Once we toured the tight corridors of Corniglia we walked down the hundreds of steps to the stazione, people coming up looked exhausted ha! We hopped the train to Manarola, very short trip! We repeated our last visit with lunch at Marina Piccolo, great food, view and atmosphere. There was only one other couple there, would you believe it was the couple we dined next to in Florence, what are the chances?! After food and great conversation we reluctantly decided to skip Riomaggiore this trip and walked up to the stazione to head back to Rapallo.
We are almost certain to return one day to Cinque Terre, it's just that special of a place. Remember this was late April, but the crowds were relatively light and I bet we only saw 2 dozen people on the trails, most were in the afternoon walking towards us. And I noticed many of those were wearing nice clothes and shoes not meant for hiking! If you've never been and are considering this hike, different parts are considered average to difficult, wear hiking shoes, bring plenty of water and expect some exercise! * Next report we travel north into Piemonte...Ciao!
If you have been following along from the beginning we mentioned that a few of our accommodations were only reserved a couple days prior to arrival. We did look at available rentals within Cinque Terra and there were a couple that we almost went for! but with the car we opted for Rapallo, which we really enjoyed.
We hiked the Cinque Terre trails a few years ago and we wanted to do that again. The Stazione di Rapallo was a short 5 minute walk from the apartment. With a take away caffe' in hand we boarded an early train to Monterosso al Mare, trip took approximately 35-40 minutes.
Upon arrival we walked to the beach, which is literally a stone's throw from the stazione. The temperature was nice for hiking and the skies were very overcast...it would clear during our hike! We stayed in Monterosso on our last visit so we knew the town well. Monterosso al Mare basically has an "old town" and a "new town" connected by a lovely seaside promenade and foot tunnel. After visiting the "Giant" aka Neptune we walked to the old town for breakfast.
At the far end of old town we paid an admission to the trails, really don't mind paying especially since they have to maintain this high traffic trail. FYI, money is being spent rebuilding the low section between Manarola-Riomaggiore, landslide took it out in 2012 and it's expected to reopen in July 2024. It is obviously a popular hike, however we started out around 9am and we saw few hikers most of the day!
The 2 times we've hiked here we started from Monterosso, and in my opinion the first hour is the toughest part going up, up, up! It's such a relief when the trail has level areas or slight downhill grades. Of course getting to the towns is the goal here, but between Vernazza and Corniglia there is a great stopping point named Bar Gabbiano, oustanding views, wonderful lemon drinks and ice cold beer!!
I won't bore you with the minor hiking details, I'll just load up some pics!
Once we toured the tight corridors of Corniglia we walked down the hundreds of steps to the stazione, people coming up looked exhausted ha! We hopped the train to Manarola, very short trip! We repeated our last visit with lunch at Marina Piccolo, great food, view and atmosphere. There was only one other couple there, would you believe it was the couple we dined next to in Florence, what are the chances?! After food and great conversation we reluctantly decided to skip Riomaggiore this trip and walked up to the stazione to head back to Rapallo.
We are almost certain to return one day to Cinque Terre, it's just that special of a place. Remember this was late April, but the crowds were relatively light and I bet we only saw 2 dozen people on the trails, most were in the afternoon walking towards us. And I noticed many of those were wearing nice clothes and shoes not meant for hiking! If you've never been and are considering this hike, different parts are considered average to difficult, wear hiking shoes, bring plenty of water and expect some exercise! * Next report we travel north into Piemonte...Ciao!
