Cinque terre trails

It would be helpful if you post your travel dates.

In addition to the trails closing during the winter months, they can also close unexpectedly due to bad weather or a change of conditions on the trail. Just because the trail might be open today does not mean that someone could guarantee that the same trail would be open when you are on your trip. You will have to check with the park service to determine what is open while you are there.

Generally people use the trails for day hikes. Were you planning on camping?

This appears to be an updated map of what is currently open.

https://www.incinqueterre.com/en/trails-maps

doug,

I agree with the first reply. Some additional information would be helpful. For example.....

• When will you be in the Cinque Terre?
• Which of the five towns are you planning to stay in?
• Are you planning to hike only the Sentiero Azzurro trails, or some of the higher trails as well?

To answer your last question, Yes, it's a good idea to base yourself in one of the five towns and then just do day hikes.

I think this will be a "game time" decision. my friend and I were there in September. the plan was to hike from monterosso to vernazza and then spend the night in vernazza. hike the rest of the way to riomaggiore the next day. our plans were changed the day we go there. when we started in monterosso, at the kiosk where you buy the pass to walk the trail....the guy working there indicated the trail was closed from vernazza to riomaggiore due to recent rains (previous 2 days). he didn't know when it would re-open. so we only walked to vernazza. the next day we took a train and made stops in each little town so we could at least see them. I think as your travel date gets closer, you will have a better idea of the trail status.

Doug, the best reference for trail information is the park itself. Here's the current trail status and map:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Esentieri-outdoor.php

The route most people are interested in is the "Blue Trail" (Sentiero Azzurro) which is 4 coastal segments between Riomaggiore and Monterosso. Those segments are 592-1 (SVA2) - 592-4 (SVA2) on the chart, and you can see that two of those segments are closed.

One of them - between Corniglia and Manarola - has been closed for years and is not expected to open anytime soon. The other - between Manarola and Riomaggiore - is more paved walkway than 'trail', and has also been mostly closed for some time but may open again sometime this year. But as you can see from the map, there are other ways to skin the cat if you're willing to put in the extra effort. Click on any trail on the list or the map to pull up details on the route such as description, length and difficulty.

As the area is fairly small, I'd choose a base and do your hikes from there. Corniglia - although I really like that one - would probably be my last choice as its train station is at the base of its cliff-top location so it's a climb to get to if you're not wanting to wait for the shuttles (which do not run late into the evening).

And as already mentioned above, if your trip is in the off season, more rather than fewer trails may be closed due to weather damage or general instability.

Regarding the segments of the Sentiero Azzurro from Corniglia to Manarola and Manarola to Riomaggiore (Via dell' Amore), both are tentatively scheduled to reopen in April 2016. However the schedule could change between now and April.