June 22, 2025: Cha-Chinga Terra

We have arrived at the famed Cinque Terre which consists of five unpronounceable villages. It is part of the Italian Rivera. I can’t pronounce any of these names, try as I might, much to Rob’s dismay. I have written several of my tries in italics next to the word.

Riomaggiore Rigamaroli, Riocannoli, Rigatoni
Riomaggiore is the southernmost village of the five. We hiked up to the Castello di Riomaggiore, the clifftop castle overlooking the village. There was an entrance fee. I thought that they should have paid ME to hike there or at least told me at the bottom of the numerous steps that there was a fee.

Manarola Motorola
Perhaps the prettiest part of Cinque Terre, cutesy Manarola has a natural harbor full of swimmers, kayakers, and rock jumpers.

We walked from Riomaggiore to Manarola. We didn’t spend a lot of time in Manarola because the last boat back to Vernazza left at 5:45pm.

This viewpoint was romantic with Manarola in the distance.

Corniglia Cornucopia, Caligula
Tiny Corniglia, perched high above the seas, is the only clifftop village in the region.

We took a CROWDED (which translates to sweaty) bus from the train station to the village at the top. They told us to stay together for our tickets, but it was impossible with everyone pushing to get on.

From up here, you can see much of the mountain villages of Cinque Terre. Corniglia is the least visited of the five villages.

We ate at *A Cantina de Mananan*, a lovely osteria (cafe) in the village serving local ingredients.

When we paid the bill, they gave us a complimentary postcard of four naked men stomping on grapes in a wine vat. It was quite shocking as it left nothing to the imagination. I am sure that I would be breaking pornography laws in the USA if I sent it through the mail … or even posted it online here!!

One can only access Corniglia from the train, by bus, or hike to it (there is no boat dock), but here is an amazing view from the boat as we pass by.

Vernazza I’ve got this one down since it is my hometown today.

Vernazza, the busiest and most crowded, was an important village in the past. It has medieval, narrow alleyways that twist and turn.

We wandered around the small harbor of Vernazza at night when most of the fellow tourists had left.

On our first morning, we hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso. As we started out, I took a picture of the stairs.

This little girl stopped and posed without request. A future model. So cute!!

I am pretty slow going down. I am happy to have walking sticks. It is like having portable handrails.

We were told that it was a 1½ hour hike. There are many stone stairs as we ascended the terraced mountain only to descend once again into the city of Monterosso.

Monterosso al Mare Monasorri
Usually known as plain Monterosso, it is the largest of the five villages, and most resembles a regular beach resort.

We had a delicious local seafood-inspired lunch.

Clear blue water is prevalent
in the Ligurian Sea.

There were lots of children and teens making decorations out of flowers and colored sand for a celebration later that evening.

Rob had purchased boat tickets so we rested our weary bones after the hike as we boarded the boat and disembarked at the other cities.

We chose to buy the following:

A two-day Cinque Terre Card. This pays for access to hiking trails (!?) that were sometimes unmanned, trains, buses, and toilet access (I never did see a sign for a toilet or W.C.) In hindsight, we should have just bought one day.
One day Boat pass. We only used it for about 4 hours.
Lovers Lane. This was touted as a must-see easy stroll along the Ligurian Sea for amazing romantic views.

Via dell’Amore or Lovers Lane: We climbed several flights of stairs to the start of the walk, and we were told to go back down to the train station and purchase a ticket and make a reservation. The price was 20€ (about $23) for the two of us. (Who walks Lovers Lane alone?)

We had a long discussion whether we should do it or not and decided that we would since we did not plan to come back. She asked when we would like to go?

“Now”.

We climbed back upstairs and gave “the guide” our tickets. “How long is it?” Twenty minutes. That is 1€ per minute. I told Rob to walk slowly so we could get our money’s worth!!