The five towns on the Cinque Terre are connected by train, a road, and a foot path. From one end to the other is 12 miles. If you can walk 12 miles of up and down terrain then be sure to use the foot path as you’ll be treated to some fantastic views that can’t be seen from the road or train.

The nice thing about having multiple options is if you get two or three towns (maybe 5 or 8 miles) away from where you are staying you can always hop on the train to get back “home.”

The above photograph is of the northernmost of the Cinque Terre towns, Monterosso al Mare, a most wonderful place to be on a warm summer evening.

One day we walked from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, the southernmost Cinque Terre town. The photo shown above includes, in the foreground, the town of Corniglia as viewed from the north. In the distance you can also see the next town, Manarola, on the next land outcrop.

The little cove down to the right includes a nude beach called Guvano. The railroad tunnel you must walk through from the nude beach to Corniglia is most unusual. It reminded me of a scene from Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.

Anyway, we had a splendid time at Guvano and a delicious lunch in Corniglia on our 10-mile hike up and down (meaning elevation–we took the train back to Vernazza) the coast.

Posted on December 24th, 2008 under Other • Tags: beach, italy, pictures. • RSS 2.0 feed • Both comments and pings are currently closed