May 16, 2016 - Cinque Terre

After all the driving we had done on the day before, we decided to change our plan by taking the train to Cinque Terre.  We had to get up early to catch the train around 7AM.  Originally, we planned to start from Riomagiore and do the coast line hiking to Monterosso.  

From Montecatini Treme to Riomagiore is about 2 hours train ride with 2 transfers.  We did not have any problem of getting to Riomagiore around 9AM.  However, we were extremely disappointed to find out that they closed the hiking trail between Riomagiore and Manarola, and the hiking trail between Manarola and Cornelia. Supposedly the hiking trail between Riomagiore and Manarola is the most beautiful trail among all 4 trails.  It is referred to as the Via dell’Amore (The Way of Love).  They did not give any reason of why it was closed.  By the way, the staffs at the Cinque Terre National Park Information Center (for acquiring Cinque Terre Card) are the worst tourism service personal we have ever encountered.  Their attitude was just like “I don’t have any interest to help you” and “don’t bother me”.  It was bad.

With the closure of Via dell’Amore, we changed our plan by taking the train to Cornelia and then hiked to Vernazza.  It was about 1.5 hours hike along the coastline.  The scenery is good, however, when we compared it with the hiking trails we had in Nova Scotia, Canada, we preferred the Nova Scotia hiking trails.  

When we approached to Vernazza, we had the most wonderful view of Vernazza.  This is the village Jason and Theresa came for their honeymoon.  After seeing this beautiful view, we understood why they chose this place for their honeymoon.  It is an astoundingly beautiful cliffside town with attractions such as the Doria Castle, Belfort Tower, beach and lagoon. We went up to Doria Castle to have a wonderful view of this picturesque sea side town.  Then we went to a restaurant on the cliff to have a relaxed lunch and enjoy the view.

Then, we took the train to each one of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre.  When we got to Manarola, we walked toward the Via dell’Amore to have a peek of this beautiful hiking trail.  It was beautiful, and we felt sorry on the closure of this trail.

By the time we got back to Montecatini Treme after 2 hours of train ride, it was after 9PM.  Luckily we were able to find a pizzeria still open to serve dinner.