Hiking in the Cinque Terre with 69-year-old mom

Hard to say. My wife & I are 67 and have done the entire trail various times. What is " fairly good health " to you may differ from our version. She can rest anywhere along the way & is never far from the next village / train station

Let Momma decide. .

There is plenty to see without hiking between the towns. The view from a boat is a great way to see the terrain. The towns themselves have backstreets to explore; Manarola has a very nice vineyard walk marked out and hotels often have suggestions for their towns. You could also take a shuttle bus to the top of a town (e.g. the parking lot) and walk back downhill.

If you mother is a slow walker, plan carefully to be sure you will not be caught on a hiking trail after dark.

Amanda,

As your mother is not able to hike for long periods of time, I would not recommend attempting the two trail sections that are open, as those are the most challenging two. There's a steep climb at the Monterosso end that might be too much for her. If she gets up to the elevation of the trail and then finds she can't go any further, that's not a good situation.

My advice would be the same as Laura posted. She'll get lots of walking just exploring the five towns, especially as some of them have streets that run uphill from the harbour and station areas. She shouldn't have any trouble with the walk between the new town and old town parts of Monterosso as it's mostly level. She may also be able to make it up the trail above Vernazza as far as the "postcard picture spot" that's featured in many tourist brochures. There's a short section of the Via dell' Amore open from the Manarola end, if you want to look at that.

The boats provide a great view of the five towns. You could travel from one end to the other by boat, and then return via the local trains. You could also go a bit further to Porto Venere and have a look there (use the boat in both directions).

Take the bus from Riomaggiore up to Volastra. You can walk all the way to Corniglia with almost no uphill. There is a fairly significant downhill into Corniglia, though. Once in the town, have lunch and take the shuttle bus down to the train station. FWIW we are 72 and 63 and have hiked all over the Cinque Terre, except Trail #2; it's just not worth dealing with the other people. . We just take our time, and we like to use hiking poles.

Wow, thanks so much for the thoughtful responses everyone! I will print out the suggestions out to take with us. We are very excited to explore the region!
Cheers :o)

I agree with Laurel. The hike from Volastra to Corniglia is mostly level, but you do have a steep down hill on some not ver smooth terrain.

Here is a video to give you an idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CAM9tXHgqA&index=11&list=FL_MeuyPGSbFV9ULxoz7aBwg

Amanda,

As always, Laurel has great suggestions! I loved the walk from Volastra to Corniglia but the downhill into town is significant. The good thing was it was not crowded (early June 2014) and there were plenty of opportunities to rest. Be sure to take the bus to Volastra though! Also, RS's Italy has a good description of the vineyard walk in Manarola which offers great views of the town. I feel sure there will be plenty of "hiking" (even within the towns) you and your mom will be able to enjoy.

I might add that even though a lot of the walks (hikes) are not difficult they also are not necessarily on nice flat paved walking paths that she may be used to. They can be narrow, rough, uneven in parts, etc. If she's at all unsteady on her feet in those situations it might be wise to have hiking poles or a walking stick.

Thank you all so much for your responses! Much appreciated :o)