While researching where to stay in Monterosso next spring, I "discovered" Buranco and Uliveto nel Parco and am trying to decide where to stay - both have wonderful reviews and I think would a wonderful experience. One of my concerns is the distance from town to Uliveto nel Parco may be 10 or 15 minutes further "up the hill" than Buranco and I am wondering if, all things being equal, if I should stay at Buranco and save some energy for hiking. Although the path at Uliveto nel Parco to town sounds like a great hike in itself. I arrive by train/ in the afternoon and will be there two full days before leaving for Rome for 10 days. CT is in the middle of my trip - after 10 days in Siena and Florence and I thought staying at an agriturismo would give me a bit of a respite.
I will either do the 5 town hike in one or two days, I haven't decided. There are so many suggestions of how to structure that hike - I am not sure I will know how best for me until I do it! If anyone has been to either or both places and could give me an idea of the distance/steepness of each path, I would much appreciate it. Also if you have stayed at either one, your insights. Thank you, Sharon
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32404 posts
Sharon, I'm not familiar with the places you listed, but my suggestion would be to stay right in Monterosso. That will provide more options for enjoying the restaurants and other activities in the evening, and then getting to your hotel easily when you're tired. Also, hiking up to the locations you mentioned with full kit when you first arrive may not be the most pleasant experience. You may or may not be able to do the hike between the five towns, depending on which of the No. 2 trails are open at that time. At the present time, the two southern legs are closed, and no word on when they'll re-open. Which month "next spring" are you planning to be in that area? Cheers!
Posted by
Tampa, FL, USA
1054 posts
I don't know about Uliveto nel Parco but I stopped by Buranco last month for their wine tasting that i found in Rick's book. He is right about english maybe limited, but we managed succesfully to communicate. We also had a great lunch with them. If was staying in Monterosso I would consider this place based on my expierence. It's not that far from the old town, just halfway up 1 steep hill. Rick say 10 minutes in his book but I don't recall it taking us that long. The hill is fairly steep once you start to go up the road in town. We are in our 30's and walked up no problem with no luggage. Before going up we meet 2 nice travelers in Monterosso who we walked around the old city with exchanging travel stories. They were both in their 60's and they did stop halfway up the hill to Buranco for a breather. If you stay in Monterosso, we did the train from Monterosso to Vernazza and it was an amazing hike. Some parts have steep steps, well more like rocks that could be steps. Parts of it are narrow where we let people hiking the opposite direction go first. There were a few flat parts but most of the time we were going up or down the trails. We started in Vernazza and went towards Monterosso. About 2/3 of the way into the hike as we started to decend down to Monterosso we passed by a vineyard where they setup a little hut on the trail selling their wine and limoncello in a glass. A well deserved rest stop!