Cinque Terre - Things to Do

I hope you at least enjoy walking because it's a hilly area, even you would like to just explore the quaint towns. There's a boat that goes between each town if you don't like to hike between them. I found it the perfect location to take photos of stairways, cats, colorful boats & the view. And, you can swim in some areas.

crystal,

To begin with, you won't be able to do any "walking from one town to another". A couple of points to mention.....

• Only two of the four Sentiero Azzurro trails are open at the moment, something which could change depending on weather conditions. Other than using trails, there's no way to "walk" from one town to another. The one trail that could be walked, the Via dell' Amore from Riomaggiore to Manarola, is not expected to be open at all until next year. The trail from Manarola to Corniglia is also closed.
• The two trails that are open are definitely more of a "hike" than a "walk". The first segment from Monterosso to Vernazza has a considerable climb at the north end, so it does require some effort. There's an extensive network of other trails in that area, but they are more challenging and take longer than the Sentiero Azzurro trails.

Regarding your other questions......

Relaxing......

• Explore the five towns using the frequent trains or boats (weather permitting).
• Take day trips to places like Porto Venere, Levanto, Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure.
• Monterosso has nice beaches, so you could spend some time there (some areas have "paid" access, some are "free").
• Enjoy the pastime of Il Dolce Far Niente, while enjoying the local restaurants,
• Check out some of the local products including Sciacchetrà, a sweet dessert wine (I believe there's a Museum for that in Vernazza) and of course Pesto in the area where it was invented.

I've found that area is somewhat quieter in September, but it's usually still very busy. On days when cruise ships are in the area, the towns can become quite "packed" but evenings are quieter once all the day-trippers have left.

You can take a bus from the village up to the sanctuary path.
There is a sanctuary above each village with a hiking path between them, you could just go up and back to one of them.

I bet on a clear day the view from the sanctuary would be amazing, but CT is mostly hazy in the afternoon, so go early.

Refresh this webcam page : http://webcam.nuovogarden.com/nuovogardenwebcam.jpg

Relx and enjoy CT!

Thank you for the insight, I know the guidebook made mention of the trails, but I hadn't found out yet that the trails are closed :(

The boat sounds lovely though!

Thank you for all your input!

Just to add, it looks to me as if all but one of the segments of the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue trail: SVA n. 2) are closed. According to the park website, Monterosso to Venazza is open but the other three are not. You can see the map by clicking on the link below (red lines mean closed) and note that the last entry on the chart (SVA (ex n.2) Riomaggiore - Vernazza) has a red dot - which also means closed.

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/sentieri_parco.asp?id_lingue=1

Ken is right that, other than Via dell' Amore - which you won't be able to do anyway, "walking" is not a great descriptor for the trails. Monterosso to Vernazza is a nice "hike" but a fairly strenuous one if you're not much of a trekker to begin with. Still, there are some wonderful views from that path. Unfortunately, due to the closure of the rest of the Sentiero Azzurro, I'd also expect it to be completely mobbed.

There's going to be little difference between August and September: it's going to be very busy. The #1 thing to do is just explore the villages: stop into the churches; climb up to the overlooks (some of the cemeteries afford excellent views); do some people watching; take a ferry ride; and shoot loads and loads of pictures.

Thanks, all.

it looks to me as if all but one of the segments of the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue trail: SVA n. 2) are closed.

I'm not sure the Parco Nazionale website has been updated recently, as information posted by people in the area indicates that the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia is also open. As I recall, this has been confirmed in other posts here from people that hiked that section recently. You may also want to check THIS website. The Parco Nazionale website and also the trail numbers were changed this year, so it's been a bit confusing and hard to decipher.

Ken you're absolutely right and I've been watching those same reports on the "Save Vernazza" site as well. I'm only leaning on the side of caution as the Vernazza - Corniglia leg was supposedly closed when we were there but the barriers had been pushed aside and so it appeared to be open. We met some hikers coming from the other direction who assured us that it was, and so we did gave it a shot.

While traversable with caution, there were some small crews working on sections here and there, and a hiker in front of us was slightly injured when a sudden slide of debris from their repair work above painfully banged up her leg. The crew was unapologetic, and looked to be MORE than annoyed to have people traipsing around them. I wondered in hindsight if some other hikers had removed the barriers, and it really wasn't open at all.

Anyway, that's why I've been using the park map and charts. And I agree: it's all gotten a little confusing!

We stayed in the town of Moneglia (to the west of Cinque Terre) and took a boat or train into the Cinque Terre area. There is a train connection between a few of the Cinque Terre towns, but I can't remember which. It's a good climb from the sea to the train stations. It's been 7-8 years ago, but we experienced come 1 September much of the boat shuttle service ended at least from Moneglia to the Cinque Terre area. Consider a day trip to Portofino or inland into the hills.

Ken, I just checked the Cinque Terre website and see that they've officially updated the trail between Vernazza and Corniglia to "open." Hooray; no more confusion!!! :O)