Cinque Terre - Porto Venere

 On Sunday we bought Cinque Terre Cards, or day passes for the train, so we could see the towns we haven't yet been to.

We took the train to Riomaggiore, the largest and southern most of the towns. We got off the train and walked through the tunnel ro the town. There are more restaurants and bars here compared to Manarola, where we are staying. We then walked to the marina and then up the cliff a bit, to get some great views.

We didn't stay long in Riomaggiore. It is the first stop for people on day trips to Cinque Terre, and perhaps because it was a Sunday, the crowd of people was overwhelming. Also, despite the weather forecast for cooler temperatures  it was still very hot and humid. So, we went back to the hotel in Manarola to change into lighter clothes.

We then took the train to the next town north, called Corniglia. It is up on a hill so there is no ferry stop. In fact when you get off the train, there is either a bus up the hill to town, or you climb up a long set of steep, switch-backing stairs.

Once you got to the top it was worth it. Corniglia is a very quaint little town with lots of narrow stone alleyways and great views of the surrounding countryside and the water.

There is so the old stone church of San Pietro built in the 1330's.

After walking around we had lunch, and then back down the stairs to the train station and back to Manarola. We had to wait quite a while for dinner because all the reataurants were fully booked.

On Monday we took the ferry to Porto Venere, which is outside the Cinque Terre park but it was recommeded to us as worth visiting.

The weather was finally turning, clouding over and getting windy, so the waves were large and the ferry ride was very choppy.

Porto Venere was definitely interesting. It is bigger and has more of a feeling of a city on the water rather than the small towns of Cinque Terre. There is a strip of shops and restaurants along the water by the dock, and a beach farther along. The strip is lined with colourful buildings.

 Narrow stone streets go up the hill to the small church of San Pietro in Porto Venere, built in 1198, which is on a point of land on cliffs overlooking the water.

Further up the hill is the imposing Castello Doria, built in 1161.

Just behind it is the church of San Lorenzo, built in the 1100's, with its interesting facade and huge black columns on the inside.

From there we walked back down through the narrow stone streets, and had a traditional meal in one of the restaurants.

We caught the ferry back to Manarola - another choppy ride and a bit of rain. This was our last day in Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre

On Friday we caught a high speed train from Bologna to Florence, and then regional trains to Manarola in Cinque Terre, via Pisa and La Spezia. So far we'd only used high speed trains for which we had pre-booked tickets, so using regional trains was new to us: getting the tickets, validating them, trying to find a seat, etc.

Cinque Terre is a national park on the northwest coast of Italy, in which isolated, beautiful, colourful towns sit like gems nestled in the cliffs, terraced vineyards, and olive groves of the steep, green shoreline. There are five main towns, from south to north they are: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterossa. Here is a picture of Riomaggiore.

An interesting thing about the train to Cinque Terre is that the train spends much of the time going through tunnels. Even the towns have pedestrian tunnels connecting one part to the other.

Upon arriving in Manarola, I was a bit shocked at the sheer density of the crowds of tourists. Just getting off the train platform took a long time since so many people had to funnel through a tiny exit. 

We found our hotel and after settling in we walked down the main street of the town to the water. There is a rocky protected cove where lots of people were swimming. I went into the water for a bit because it was so hot and humid. We then found a place for dinner. The view up the road gives a good idea of the scale of the place.

There is a ferry that goes to most of the towns (except Corniglia which is on a cliff above the water) and beyond. 

The next day we took the ferry to Vernazza.

Near the dock there was a group of people painting watercolours of the town so I joined them and did a sketch.

There are hiking trails connecting all the towns, and we did the hike from Vernazza to Monterossa. It was quite a hot day for a hike, about 30 degrees C, and the first half was all uphill. The trail went through olive groves and, dry Mediterranean shrubbery and huge aloe verra plants. It was sometimes dirt and sometimes very narrow stone steps. 

It was great to get a view of Monterossa with its large beach.

After a dip in the water we went for a drink and a bite to eat, walked around a bit, and then caught the ferry back to Manarola. Here is a view of both Corniglia and Manarola from the water.

After cleaning up at the hotel, we found a very nice restaurant up on the side of the hill for dinner, and a great view of the town at night.