I would be more than happy to grow old in the towns of Cinque Terre. They are five villages along the coast with populations of no more than 2,000 each (yet chock full of tourists) and right along the Mediterranean Sea. The draw here is the that you can hike from one village to another along the coast and get great views all around you. And, if you aren’t apt at hiking then you can take a train or ferry between them all as well to experience the uniqueness of each little town.
A hike of about 10km took us a little over 6 hours. We walked through each of the towns as we reached them and stopped for water or gelato or just to put our feet in the water.
- You can see the path wrapping around the mountain. This is the first bit we took.
- Suitable for all types…this part anyway.
- This is where the path got a little more terrain-like.
- From Riomaggiore to Manarola.
- The path did get a little more difficult up and down the side of the hills. Yet, tons of people hiking it everywhere.
- From Manarola to Corniglia. This is the only way into the town– almost 400 steps!
- From Corniglia to Vernazza. My favorite of the towns. Why? They all the look the same and have similar stores, but this one felt different.
- And, finally to Monterosso.
The day after the hike, Anna and I went kayaking in the Mediterranean. I was stoked to do this until I got out into the sea and the waves turned out to be a little bigger than expected making me quite nauseous. We were out for about an hour and a half and when my arms could row no more and my stomach was about to hurl we waded back in.
After all this activity all I could manage to do was lay out on the stone beach and work on my Italian tan.
- Italian slabs of marble served as my lounge chair. I think it is Statuary Vein.
