Plan on staying 3 nights in the CT, BUT I need to know which towns are the easiest to walk in. I have rather weak knees, OK on flat sufaces but I have trouble on steep streets.
Will Vernazza be OK, or would you recommend one of the other towns.
thnx much
The railroad tracks going through the five towns kind of divide the steep from the flat and not so steep. On the water side. the streets from the tracks down to the water have some incline/decline and some level parts. But, as I recall, they are not bad at all. Monterosso has an old town and a new town and the walks between them are not bad. Above the tracks, there are some level areas close in but within a few hundred feet, the streets begin to rise. Some streets can be a bit steep. There is good news here. Each town has mini-bus service. I don't think that they go between the towns but they do go up and down the hills. If you have a Cinque Terre Treno card, it's free.
Anticipating your next question, yes there is a CT Card. It's called the Cinque Terre Treno card. They come in 1,2,3 and 7-day flavors and can be purchased at TI offices in the CT. The pass provides unlimited free rides on the train from Levanto in the North to La Spezia in the south. Further it covers the fares on the coastal trails (yes there are fare booths on the trails). You can easily walk the first trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola. It's level. You might be able to walk the second trail from Manarola to the Corniglia train station. There is one area with a small hill and there are 4-5 dozen stairs at the end as you descend to the train station. We're seniors and we did it quite easily. Finally, the card is good on the mini-buses and for the local museum. It's not good on the ferries.
thnx
The towns at either end are probably the easiest. The hike between the Riomaggiore and Mannarola is very easy but the towns are still hilly. Monterosso has the only beach to speak of and the most flat area of the five.
NanC, I would recommend either Monterosso, or possibly Vernazza so long as you are certain that the place you are staying at is on the main street or just off of it. Riomaggiore is pretty well nothing but stairs and steep roads, and Manarola is going to be too small to have anything without stairs. Corniglia is obviously out of the question. Monterosso has the most flat parts of any town, but again you would need to be certain that the place you are staying at is not too hilly as there are hilly parts to town.
For just wandering around town, Monterosso is the largest and has the most flat areas.
For the hike between towns, the only one that is not hilly is the path between Riomaggiore and Manarola, but there are stairs/a ramp at each end to start the walk.
thx Brad and Steve
Looking forward to my stay there !
Monterosso is definitely the flattest. Vernazza is pretty steep.
Hello, I write from Manarola. I take the chance to invite you to this site about the Cinque Terre Italy. Also online a section of Video of the Cinque Terre, a different point of view..
