Cinque Terre Visitor Limits

Short answer - it's been proposed but not enforced as of yet, don't worry about it. If you're really concerned and want more opinions, here are some earlier threads:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/italy-to-impose-limits-on-visitors-to-cinque-terre-with-tourist-ticket-system

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/latest-news-regarding-visitors-to-cinque-terre

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/no-limits-in-cinque-terre

These could be found doing a search on Cinque Terre and selecting Travel Forum and 6 months and newer.

pam,

At the present time, the Cinque Terre has not started to limit visitors. This is being discussed but nothing has been decided yet and finding some way to limit visitors is going to be "challenging". Any measures will first have to go through the convoluted Italian bureaucracy, which could take some time. A good example of the bureaucracy is the new car park in the old town in Monterosso. Construction was halted when it was about half completed, and it's been gathering dust for about the last five years (the construction crane is still in place).

In terms of "walking the paths", note that only two of the four Sentiero Azzurro segments are currently open (park pass required). Especially on the segment from Monterosso to Vernazza, it's more of a "hike" than a "walk" as there's a steep climb at the north end. The famous Via dell' Amore (Manarola to Riomaggiore) which is a "walk", has been closed for several years and won't be open for some time. There's an extensive network of trails in that area, so if you want to hike you'll have lots of opportunities.

Thank you Nancy and Ken. Your responses were comforting. I won't spend any energy worrying about this. And, we will be prepared for hiking. Many thanks for your prompt guidance. --Pam