Day 14 2018-10-18 Levanto & Cinque Terre

Day 14 2018-10-18 Levanto & Cinque Terre

We fueled up with an early hotel breakfast, then took the short tunneled train ride from Levanto to Monterosso to begin the coastal walk to Vernazza.

The day started cool, with the first 4Km track not yet being busy. It was a steep, narrow track with steps cut into the seemingly almost vertical steep slope dropping a long way to the ocean. This section took 2 hrs and the legs felt worked.

Vernazza’s tiny harbor was the focal point of the gelato enjoying tourists. There were a lots of interesting shops and bars in the narrow street and was one of the most photographed village on the Cinque Terre.

An observation was that the beach size appeared to reduce as we headed south, with Bonassola, Levanto and Monterosso having the longest beaches. The four most southern fishing villages of Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore had tiny or no beaches and/or small boat harbors.

We then started the 3.5km from Vernazza to Corniglia. This was slightly easier, although the first climb was steep up seemingly endless stairs.

On arrival in Corniglia, it was time to rest the legs and eat lunch. We found a nice touristy outdoor cafe and enjoyed paninis and ‘aqua with gas’.

Corniglia appeared to have no easy access beach or harbor on the north side. After lunch, we headed through town and descended many steps to the train station for the 5 min trip to next village of Manarola.

We had a quick look around Manarola. It had a steep, main pathed street to the ocean, lined with fishing boats. There was a hoist to get the boats into the water.

We then continued by another short train ride to Riomaggiore. This village had a scenic tiny harbor and the multi colored village seemed to hang on the cliffs. Some of the fishing boats were stored on the main path thru the village. This was our last village and we felt it was one one of the prettiest. There was an option to take a ferry back to Levanto (€16). We decided to take the train instead and use the time to look around Levanto.

Before packing the bicycle for the flight home, I had to scrub it thoroughly with soap and a tooth brush to remove any remnants of Tuscan white roads. Australian customs are very strict on this.

Our last Italian dinner was at a relaxing tourist restaurant La Posada, near the beach. I finished with Bruschetta and Ravioli and we enjoyed the local wine.