Silvia Moggia

Three days hiking the Cinque Terre

Three days of hiking in Cinque Terre fly away in a whisker and you will surely leave wishing to come back as soon as possible to walk along other paths you will have to give up the first time.

Three days to hike and discover the Cinque Terre are barely enough, but still a good option to start and this article, considering Riomaggiore as a starting point for the itineraries, is a simple proposal for a program allowing you to visit the five villages and go through some of the most beautiful paths in our area, knowing that there are many other options!

First day

On the first day, you could start with the now-classic path, the SVA path that connects Corniglia to Monterosso: following a rich breakfast in the morning, take the train to Corniglia, to immediately start with a healthy hike overlooking the sea.

The first portion of the trail, up to Vernazza, will take about 90 minutes, walking quietly and enjoying the panorama and the always different points of view. Upon arrival, take some time to visit the village and maybe treat yourself to a light lunch in the square and a break on the rocks before leaving.

The second section up to Monterosso is a little more demanding but equally spectacular: about 2 hours walking reaching 217 meters above the sea level. The landscape is a postcard and we recommend you enjoy it, walking peacefully.

Upon arrival, take your time to visit Monterosso and treat yourself to some time on the beautiful sandy beach before getting back by train, in time for an aperitif with local products and wine, and a typical seafood dinner.

* on your first day you’ll need to get a one day Cinque Terre Card MS Train.

Second day

On the second day, we suggest you hike the Riomaggiore-Corniglia section. A decidedly more vertical itinerary, but wonderful and characterized by vineyards and terraces.

Let’s start with the Via Beccara, recently restored and reopened to the public: about an hour’s hike on a vertical trail, or rather steps, through the vineyards and with breathtaking views. After visiting Manarola, you can leave for the enchanting Volastra. Another vertical climb through the vineyards before a well-deserved lunch break.

From there, the path to Corniglia starts from the square of the Madonna della Salute church, one of the shrines of Cinque Terre. Just over an hour among vineyards overlooking the sea, alternating with pine woods, to end with a splendid panorama from above on Corniglia, which this time you can visit taking as much time as you need.

Once back, before dinner, you could treat yourself to a visit to a vineyard with wine tasting in the cellar.

Third day

On your last day, we recommend a slightly less hiked trail, but an absolutely fabulous one: four half hours walking from Riomaggiore to Porto Venere, passing from the Montenero shrine and the mythical Monesteroli, with its dizzying and endless stone staircase.

The path arrives downtown Porto Venere, a small pearl in the Gulf of Poets where you can spend a few hours after a seafood lunch on the waterfront. We definitely recommend getting back by boat, in time to enjoy the last evening in Cinque Terre.

The Gulf of Poets

What to visit when staying longer? The Gulf of Poets, a pearl of the eastern Liguria and a perfect excursion from the Cinque Terre.

Ci sia arriva con il battello per Porto Venere e prendendo successivi collegamenti via mare da lì, oppure raggiungendo La Spezia in treno e poi spostandosi con gli autobus cittadini o ancora con le autovetture elettriche a disposizione dei turisti in città. Il nostro consiglio è però, per un’esperienza veramente indimenticabile e su misura, è quello di organizzare una gita in barca personalizzata, contattando uno dei barcaioli elencati qui.

Not only poets

The Gulf of Poets is actually the Gulf of La Spezia, so named by the playwright Sem Bonelli who during the funeral of Paolo Mantegazza pronounced a historical phrase for those who live in this area: “Blessed you are, oh poet of science who rests in peace in the Gulf of Poets”.

Among the poets who loved and sang the gulf stand out George Sand and Alfred De Musset, David Herbert Lawrence, Emma Orczy, Montale, Petrarca, Marinetti, Soldati, D’Annunzio, Lord Byron, and Shelley, who drowned right in the gulf, sailing on board of his schooner, Ariel.

But the gulf was also drawn by great painters such as Turner and Botticelli, who painted here his Venus, Simonetta Cattaneo, loved by Lorenzo the Magnificent and lady of the villa of Fezzano, whose vestiges can be visited today.

Le Grazie

A picturesque fishing village nearby Porto Venere, famous for the yards of traditional fishing boats, for the storage of historic Tall Ships and other prestigious sailing boats, for the archaeological park of the Varignano residential villa of Roman-era and for the homonymous bastion, once lazaret of the Republic of Genoa, later penal bath of the Kingdom of Sardinia and today seat of the Italian Navy’s “Incursors”.

Porto Venere

An ancient village with an important history, Porto Venere is today one of the most renowned seaside villages in Liguria, with one of the most colorful and photographed Genoese palaced building and narrow alleyways that climb from the marina to get to the church of San Lorenzo and from there to the Castello Doria and its beautiful views. Love at first sight is usually the reaction when discovering the church of San Pietro, overlooking the sea.

A quelli che giungono dal mare appare nel lido il porto di Venere e qui
nei colli che ammanta l’ulivo è fama che anche Minerva scordasse per tanta dolcezza Atene
sua patria…
Petrarca

San Terenzo

San Terenzo is a hamlet of Lerici and they are connected by the Vassallo seafront promenade. An ancient village where time seems to stand still and where the sea dominates unchallenged and marks the life of those who pass by. Its clear beaches are certainly the highlight of the village, but the castle built on the cliff, above the cave known as Tana dei Turchi, is also remarkable.

Lerici

In the Middle Age and until the Baroque era Lerici was a very important port, from which goods and pilgrims left along the Via Francigena or towards northern Italy. The Jewish ghetto, the castle, the geo-paleontological museum, Villa Marigola with its park in a dominant position, and then the typical alleys and squares on the sea are simply very beautiful.

Fiascherino

Fiascherino is a small corner of paradise, known above all for Caletta Lerici with its emerald green sea and a cliff of rare beauty.

Tellaro

Tellaro is a typical seaside village perched on the cliff, entirely pedestrianized, made up of staircases, and salty steep alleys impregnated with brackish. The medieval fortifications are still clearly visible: the walls to the north and the two towers of Pisan origin transformed respectively into the bell tower of the church of San Giorgio and into the town gate.

The islands in the Gulf of Poets

In front of Porto Venere there a lovely archipelago with the Palmaria, Tino, and Tinetto islands.

La Palmaria è l’isola più grande della Liguria e offre un bel sentiero per il trekking nonché bellissimi punti panoramici sul tutto il golfo.

Tino is a military zone and can only be accessed on San Venerio, on 13 September, when the patron saint of La Spezia, protector of the lighthouse keepers, is celebrated.

Tinetto is a small spur of rock coming out of the sea, home to an ancient oratory whose ruins can be visited. Famous among sailors because a statue of the Madonna, the Stella Maris, was installed on its southern tip to signal an outcropping rock.

Torre Scola

Also known as Torre di San Giovanni Battista, it is a pentagonal military building of the Republic of Genoa, built in 1606 on an islet in the heart of the Gulf of Poets. Defensive location of Palmaria together with the Cavour and Umberto I fortresses and the Batteria Semaforo.

Sciacchetrà

Sciacchetrà is our most precious nectar, the sweet wine of the Cinque Terre. Sung in the lyrics of Petrarca, Boccaccio, Pascoli, and D’Annunzio it is also a tradition and a tale of our environment and its inhabitants.

Origins and production of the Sciacchetrà

For the locals, the name is the result of the fusion of sciacca, crush, and trai, pull away, to describe the two consecutive operations of pressing and extracting the must, not lingering in the vat when it comes to the Sciacchetrà.

For some scholars and winemakers, it would derive instead from the Greek shekar, or fermented drink. The origins date back to the first inhabitants of Riomaggiore and to the drying technique they imported from Greece.

The production specification establishes that Sciacchetrà is mainly produced with the three grape varieties of Bosco (minimum 40%), Vermentino and/or Alabarola (maximum 40%), and a possible contribution of a maximum of 20% of other varieties. The minimum alcohol is 17% of which at least 13.5% played.

The best bunches are used for the production of Sciacchetrà, left to dry until late winter on special racks placed in the shade in ventilated places. The grapes are then de-stemmed, crushed, and separated from the skins, with a yield ranging from 30 to 35% maximum compared to that of “normal” wine. Once bottled, it is kept lying down, between 10 and 15 degrees.

The sweet wine of the Cinque Terre is golden yellow in the first two or three years, but then begins to tend to amber and if aged, starting from the twenties, tends to brown, with reflections on the reds.

How to drink it

Sciacchetrà is served at a temperature of 14 degrees, in small and flared glasses, with a high stem, and is perfect to accompany Ligurian desserts and dry pastries, but if aged it is an excellent meditation wine and is also ideal for accompanying full-bodied and strong cheeses.

By sniffing it you can feel the apricot and savoring notes of dried fruit and a hint of salt. Little tannic, it is not too sweet and the alcohol content is not too strong.

Our advice? Visit the Cinque Terre vineyards and cellars, take time to meet our producers and chat with them, taste their wines, and ask to taste their Sciacchetrà and maybe take a bottle home. An authentic and complete experience and concrete support for our land.

The Cinque Terre terracing

The Cinque Terre terracing is a legacy of the Middle Age, they are what has shaped us, nourished us, made us special and which today guarantees us an identity and, in a much more concrete way, allows us to live downstream.

The construction of Cinque Terre terracing

Until the first half of the last century our economy was based almost exclusively on agriculture: vines, olive trees, fruit trees, and vegetables. To cultivate this vertical and rocky environment, the inhabitants began to erect kilometers of terraces supported by dry stone walls and arranged in overlapping bands, starting from the sea level, the ciàn.

A great work of environmental engineering well illustrated in the second part of the video linked in this article, estimated at over 4 million cubic meters of dry stone walls per hectare, for over 3 thousand linear meters of walls per hectare, for a total of 6729 km. Greater than the Earth’s radius!

Our dry stone walls, therefore, have a clear social and cultural value and if you want to know more about these aspects and their recovery, check the Stonewalls for life project.

It is estimated that until the first half of the last century in the Cinque Terre there were about 2000 hectares of olive groves, vineyards, and orchards. Today there are only about 400 of them left, while the Mediterranean maquis and the forest took over the rest.

We advise you to take a few minutes to watch this historical video of the Istituto Luce, showing the terracing construction and illustrating the past local lifestyle.

If you want to know more about the filming locations and the traditions shown in this short documentary, we are at your disposal.

The monorails of Cinque Terre

Since the 1980s, the application of a minimum of technology has begun to facilitate the work of the few who still choose that lifestyle: lighter materials and tools, but above all a network of monorails on which racks with small freight wagons move.

They do not go everywhere, but they are of great help, especially during the harvest period, which once involved carrying baskets of grapes for days, men on the back, and women on their head.

With the monorail and the abandonment of agriculture, even boats carrying baskets full of grapes to the pier disappeared, as now we no longer need to load the baskets of grapes on the gozzi moored under the lowest terraces. The same goes for the olive harvest in the fall.

Immense sacrifices and efforts, which led Veronelli to define the local winemakers as mad angels, whose work safeguards the splendid and fragile landscape of Cinque Terre.

Via Beccara

Via Beccara is a vertical path through the vineyards and until the construction of the Via dell’Amore it was the only land connection between the villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola.

Via Beccara, Hiking in Cinque Terre — Via Beccara

Numbers of the Via Beccara

path n°531 of the Cinque Terre
1.500 km long
202 of altitude on the sea
around 1 hours walking
for experienced hikers

The path

Starting from Riomaggiore, the entrance to the path is located above the Riomaggiore railway station, walking up along Via Signorini until the crossroads with Via Tracastello, on the left.

Via Beccara starts with the bridge that crosses the Rio Maior canal, which gave its name to the village, and immediately climbs vertically along a stone staircase that crosses and connects the vineyards on this side of the village.

A climb for trained walkers, which definitely tests your breath.

Over six hundred steps to reach the Corniolo hill which dominates and separates Riomaggiore and Manarola and from which you immediately begin to descend, always vertically and always facing a unique panorama, on terraces, villages, and inlets from the Madonna di Montenero to Punta Mesco.

The arrival in Manarola is overly suggestive, between typical narrow alleys and terraces overlooking the sea.

Festivals and feasts in the Cinque Terre

We’ve lots of festivals and feasts in the Cinque Terre, including patronal feasts, feasts at the five shrines, festivals, and other events that tell and pass on local traditions or enhance their peculiarities and the environment.

Here’s a short summary, but we will be writing a post about each one of these events.

Luminous nativity scene of Manarola — © Carlo Alberto Conti

Festivities and events in winter in the Cinque Terre

In December the now-famous luminous nativity scene is held in Manarola. A dream that Mario Andreoli has transformed into a project and given to his fellow citizens and the whole world. Over 15 thousand bulbs to give life to the 250 characters of the Hill of Three Crosses. A unique nativity scene, which enchants from the day of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) until the end of January.

Another decidedly special event is the underwater Christmas of Vernazza, with the birth of Jesus in the waters of the small gulf at the stroke of midnight and Christmas mass to follow.

Moving from the religious to the decidedly sporty, between the end of March and the beginning of April we attend Sciacchetrail, a trail running race celebrating our precious Sciacchetrà wine. A circuit above and through the five villages and their shrines, 47 km long with 2,600 meters of altitude difference.

In spring

With Easter, the holiday season opens at the Cinque Terre Shrines, while in May the festivals begin.

On the second Sunday of May, the shrine of the Madonna di Reggio in Vernazza celebrates the Christ Feast, with suggestive processions and very specific culinary traditions.

In mid-May Monterosso celebrates lemons, with a festival that colors and perfume the caruggi (narrow local alleys) and squares of the village for a whole weekend. Limoncino, lemon cream, jam, and lemon cake are tasted from one end of the village to the other and events organized until the evening.

In summer

At Corpus Domini in Monterosso, in addition to the Holy Mass and the procession, the inhabitants of the town decorate the streets of the village with the traditional floral display.

Also in June and always in Monterosso we celebrate the fried anchovy festival: the famous Monterosso anchovies are fried in the characteristic iron fish-shaped pan, combined with sgabei (local fried bread) and served with Cinque Terre white wine. Lots of other events are planned on this occasion.

On June 23 and 24, the Patronal Feast of San Giovanni Battista is also celebrated in Monterosso, with the traditional bonfire on the beach on the 23rd, procession, fair, and suggestive floating candles on the 24th.

On June 24, Riomaggiore also celebrates San Giovanni. A traditional procession is planned, often accompanied by a colored chalks street art exhibition by the Madonnari.

On 29 June the patron saint of Corniglia is celebrated as well, with the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. On this occasion religion, tradition, and history meet and mix and the village festival culminates with a typical dessert, the renowned Torta dei Fieschi, in memory of the past dominion of this Genoese family.

On July 7 at the shrine of Soviore in Monterosso there’s the celebration of the Rediscovery of the Pietà.

On July 20 we celebrate Santa Margherita di Antiochia in Vernazza. A procession, banquets in the main street, traditional games for children, music, and fireworks in the evening.

The first Sunday of August always in Vernazza there is a big feast at the Shrine of Our Lady of Reggio.

On 10 August Manarola celebrates the Feast of San Lorenzo, with a procession through the streets of the village, till the holy statue is embarks a fisherman boat!

In autumn

On 8 September in San Bernardino, the hamlet of Corniglia and home of its sanctuary, the feast of Our Lady of Grace is celebrated, also common to the sanctuaries of Soviore and Montenero.

Also in September, Monterosso celebrates the salted anchovy festival, with tastings in the numerous food stalls scattered throughout the village, always accompanied by collateral events guaranteeing special moments.

The Cinque Terre Card

The Cinque Terre Card is a visitor pass, allowing you to make the most of your stay, taking advantage of useful services, and at the same time supporting our environment.

The Card was in fact introduced by the Park in order to preserve trails and paths originally built by inhabitants to move around and farmers to reach their terraced fields. Paths of communication and essential work, but not foreseen for today’s high traffic noise due to tourism.

What’s included in the Cinque Terre Card

There are two types of passes you can choose from:

the simple Cinque Terre Trekking Card, including access to the SVA path, currently available between Corniglia and Monterosso, guided tours and excursions known as the Cinque Terre Walking Park, those organized at the Eugenio Montale Literary Park in Monterosso, ATC minibusses, public toilets in the five villages, WiFi near the Park’s hotspots, the laboratories of the Environmental Education Center (Centro di Educazione Ambientale) and a discount at the Musei Civici della Spezia (Civic Museums)
the Cinque Terre MS Card Train which, in addition to the services included in the basic one, offers unlimited access to the second class of regional and regional fast trains on the Levanto – La Spezia line and to all trains called Cinque Terre Express.

Purchase and rates

The Cinque Terre Card, registered and non-transferable, can be purchased at the Park’s reception centers, from Levanto to La Spezia, but in order to avoid queues and to check rates and any limitations due to weather, we recommend you buy it online, on the official website.

In case you buy a paper Card, always check with the employee who sold it to you if it must be validated or not before taking the train!

Whatever pass you have chosen and regardless of where and how you purchased it, if checked you may be asked for an identity document, even for children (till four years they travel for free).

Cinque Terre Card “Strutture Ricettive” (i.e. Accommodation Facilities)

Staying at a Cinque Terre accommodation belonging to the Park Quality Label, you are entitled to a discount on the Cinque Terre Card!

Check with the accommodation manager when you book or at check-in.

Hiking the Cinque Terre: practical tips

Hiking allows you to understand the Cinque Terre and those who live there.

Walking along our paths is the best method to discover history, culture and local traditions, to fall in love with the landscape, to understand the structure of the villages, why we call it heroic agriculture, why our wine has a value that goes far beyond its taste and also why it is not a region suitable for mass tourism.

In short, unless it’s really not your cup of tea, we highly and heartily recommend you hike, which however doesn’t mean walking always and in any case and condition.

That’s why we decided to publish this short article with some details that we tend to take for granted but are not. Simple practical tips that can improve your experience and allow you to live it in safety and serenity.

1. hiking shoes

We apparently are a sea destination, but hiking here is like hiking in the mountains.

Therefore, no flip flops, sandals, ballet flats, or other shoes that are definitely not suitable for this type of walk. What you need are good hiking shoes, with a good sole and ankle support and better if not just purchased. If they were new, at least wear them a few days before, to avoid hurting you on the first path.

2. clothing

We recommend comfortable and light clothing, perhaps applying what we call the “onion strategy”, that is, providing various layers to go from going up the sun to cooler sections in the shade or even chilly at sunset or in case of wind. If we were you we would also think about the swimsuit, because the arrival is always at the sea …

3. backpack

You need the backpack, but a light one. What to put in it?

the layers of clothing recommended in paragraph 2
thermal water bottle
a snack
sunscreen
sun glasses
waterproof bag if you plan to swim
beach towel in the same case, perhaps in microfiber
second skin patches if the shoes are new
map and guide if you don’t have one available on your smartphone
travel charger to prevent problems
spray against insect bites
camera
a plastic bag for rubbish, which you can then dispose of when you arrive in one of the villages on your itinerary

4. which path?

The articles on this site, the dedicated page on that of the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, the managers of the accommodation where you are staying and the reception staff at the Park’s tourist offices will be able to give you indications about the difficulty and duration of the individual paths and if you still have doubts or need help write us!

The advice is obviously not to overdo it. If you are not trained and your stay allows it, start with a less demanding and perhaps not too long path, and increase the difficulty day after day. You can also opt for the Via dei Santuari, heading up on a Park shuttle.

Walking with a regular rhythm will then help you avoid breathlessness: small steps uphill and at the cadence that your body suggests. If you are in a company and the others are more trained than you, they will have to adapt and maybe you will laugh together.

5. the weather

With violent rains and weather alerts, the Park stops the sale of the Cinque Terre Card and prohibits access to the SVA path in the section between Monterosso and Corniglia and this so that hikers do not take risks.

The other paths are not closed, but it is a good idea not to walk in adverse weather: the path becomes dangerous and often it is sheer above the sea, visibility drops and in case of a problem even the rescuers struggle to perform their task. In short, we strongly advise against it.

If you have any doubts, we invite you to discuss with the reception staff and with the locals who know the individual paths and the relative risk degree.

But is it worth hiking in the Cinque Terre?

Well, if the introduction has not convinced you, think that walking on the paths has positive effects on both the respiratory and cardio-pulmonary systems, it burns calories and tightens the thighs, calves, and buttocks. Using sticks you’ll also work the upper part of your body.

And truly, there is no better way than hiking to discover the Cinque Terre landscape and understand its beauty, origins, and fragility.

Have a great walk!

Volastra

Volastra is home to the original settlement of Manarola and its name derives from Vicus Oleaster meaning the oil village.

An ancient village with a circular plan, probably of Etruscan foundation and subsequent Roman occupation, today a small hilltop hamlet, known because of one of the Marian shrines of the Cinque Terre, but also because one of the most scenic paths in our area starts from here, between vineyards, sky, and sea.

What to do in Volastra

The church was actually first named after San Lorenzo, patron of Manarola, with a certificate from 1240, and only in the fifteenth century devoted to the Marian cult. The building has a quadrilateral plan with a single nave and no apse and an image of the Madonna, crowned in 1861, is venerated inside.

Getting to Volastra

Volastra can also be reached by car, along the coast road that connects the shrines of Cinque Terre and starting from La Spezia leads to Levanto. An extremely scenic road, but quite winding and whose track is in some places quite narrow. You can also get there with an ATC bus or with an Explora 5 Terre shuttle.

If, on the other hand, you prefer a healthy and scenic hike, you can walk and take the path at the Manarola parking lot. After the first steps, parallel to the road, the path runs along the typical terraces mixed with Mediterranean maquis and, once crossed the road in Piè di Fiesse, turns into a long vertical staircase between vineyards and olive trees ending in the village, right in front of a providential fountain! The ascent takes about an hour.

Manarola, history and monuments

Manarola, the second village of the Cinque Terre starting from the east, administratively depends on the municipality of Riomaggiore but has its own identity and peculiarities.

It is believed that its name derives from the Latin Manium arula or “small temple dedicated to the Mani”, but there is no confirmation on this. Some historians claim that it derives from an old Manaraea dialectal form dating back to an older Magna Roea, the large water mill wheel.

History

What we know for sure instead is that its foundation is due to the downstream movement of the inhabitants of Volastra, an ancient Roman settlement and today a hilly hamlet, back then inhabited by the people of the Val di Vara. The first documents mentioning Manarola date from the second half of the thirteenth century and deal with the struggles between the Republic of Genoa and the Fieschi di Lavagna, beaten in 1273 by a fleet of 14 galleys.

Passed under Genoa, Manarola became one of the major producers of wine and oil on the coast and, in the lower part of the village, still exists an old mill restored by the National Park. During this historical period, men really began to model the landscape and the heroic agriculture that today preserves the Cinque Terre was born then, one terracing after another.

The modern history of the village coincides with that of the other villages of the Cinque Terre and a large part of Liguria. However, the evolution on the urban side is marked with the coverage of the stream that crosses the village, beginning in 1863 and ending in 1978. For instance, in the 1950s only Piazza Innocenzo IV was covered and the two sides of the village till the Marina were connected by eleven stone bridges.

Monuments in Manarola

In addition to admiring the typical Genoese tower houses, today colorful, starting from the top you can visit Piazza Innocenzo IV, with its panoramic terrace perfect to enjoy the illuminated nativity scene by Mario Andreoli, but also the seat of the fifteenth-century Oratorio dei Disciplinanti, also known as the oratory of the Santissima Annunziata or of the Azzurri.

Also on the square, there is also the parish church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, better known as the church of San Lorenzo for the portal that depicts its martyrdom, with its bell tower with a square plan, in ancient times a watchtower. Dating back to 1338, the three-nave church is in Genoese Gothic style, with a local sandstone facade decorated with a particularly elaborate Carrara marble rose window added in 1375, while the baroque interior is characterized by a barrel-vaulted roof.

Manarola also had its castle, a defensive fortress in the heart of today’s village, in via del Baluardo. Over the centuries, however, the building has become a private home and today it is recognizable only for its rounded shape.

On the sea

What to do at the Marina in Manarola? Admire the village and lose track of time looking at the sea … from Punta Bonfiglio you can enjoy a panoramic view of the houses perched on the cliff, a glimpse that you have probably already seen in past known advertising campaigns and certainly in the infinite shots published online by those who have visited before you.

Riviere, bastano pochi stocchi d’erbaspada penduli da un ciglione sul delirio del mare

Here there is also the village cemetery, which is also often immortalized because in an extremely panoramic position and because the end lines of the poem Liguria by Vincenzo Cardarelli are engraved on its facade. This is not the only poem on the walls of Manarola, however, at the end of via Belvedere you will find, in addition to the immensity of the sea, also a small square dedicated to Eugenio Montale and a plaque with verses from his Riviere.