Il Mio Sogno Ligure

September 14, 2018

Hiking From Monterosso to Vernazza

It was our day to explore Cinque Terre, and it started early. Our plan was to take the train up to Monterosso (the northernmost town), and hike back down to Manarola. Though the traditional seaside trail between Corniglia and Manarola was closed, Francesca (our hotelliere) told us that there was a “very hard” trail between Corniglia and Manarola, that went over the mountain and that would take approximately two hours. We bought our Cinque Terre cards and then set out on the train.

Monterosso di Mare is the northernmost and largest of the five towns. It’s also my least favorite because it’s very commercialized and caters to tourists more than the others. For example, there are several large beaches owned by hotels that put up hundreds of tourists in the town. You can tell that there are too many tourists going through there too because the lady at the shop we stopped at for breakfast was not pleasant. After a sufficiently irritating interaction to get our food, we started hiking. 

The hike between Monterosso and Vernazza is about four kilometers and is supposed to take two hours. I didn’t remember the hike being particularly difficult, and I didn’t remember it taking nearly two hours, but boy was I wrong! Perhaps it was the heat, or perhaps it was the fact that I was carrying Witten and all of her gear on my back, but the climbs on the hike were a real challenge. My dad gave us a bit of a scare when he tweaked his knee while stepping up a particularly large step. Luckily, he didn’t hurt himself too badly. It was clear, however, that my dad and Callie would not be doing the next hike. Finally, we hiked down into Vernazza.

Vernazza From Above

Vernazza - the second town - is my favorite. It has a beautiful natural harbor, and is the lowest of the five towns. Last time I was there, Shawn and I were about the only people in the town, and we did a wine tasting at a quaint little enoteca. No more. They do boat tours in Cinque Terre, and it was like being in a cruise ship town . . . swarming with tour groups of old people and Asians. The town was still stunning, but the crowds were absolutely awful. It reminded me of being in Ephesus - and not in a good way. Regardless, we still enjoyed ourselves. We got pizzas at a nice little restaurant in town, spent some time down at the rocky beach, and perused the shops. We all ended up getting shirts at this one shop that I quickly became obsessed with. The owner is an avid hiker and climber, who is also really into Salewa, which is one of my brands. As an aside, Salewa is probably the best Italian outdoor company, and, in my opinion, one of the best in the world. They’ve taken climbing shoes and ported some of the concepts - like laces running all the way to the toe - over to hiking and trekking shoes. They’re based out of Bolzano, which we’re driving through, and I couldn’t be more excited. After I showed Kati that he was selling Salewa shoes and showed him the pair I was wearing, he told us that Salewa did the prints for the shirts that we were buying. Talk about cool in a super-nerdy way!

My dad and Callie opted to take the train over to Corniglia, while my mom, Kati, Witten, and I hiked there. The hike was shorter - about three kilometers - and was supposed to take about an hour and a half. It was not, however, much easier, so it’s probably a good thing that my dad and Callie opted to not come with us. Setting aside the amazing views, the best part of this hike was the bar located at the very top of the mountain between the two towns. We got some orange and lemon granite (slushees), and relaxed overlooking the sea for a little bit before finishing our trek to Corniglia.

Corniglia is the only one of the five towns that is built on the top of a cliff, instead of touching the water. Thus, I was hopeful that we wouldn’t get all of the boat tour crowds that we had to deal with in Vernazza. It was definitely less crowded, but still more crowded than I would have liked. We couldn’t find my dad and Callie, so we set up shop at a small enoteca for some drinks and snacks. Then, low-and-behold, Callie came walking down the street! Apparently they had been waiting at a different bar, in the opposite direction, but they relocated to our spot for a few drinks. I got a black cherry granita, which was phenomenal, and only bettered by my mom’s decision to get the same granita, with vodka. We all shared a laugh because the train station in Corniglia is at the bottom of the hill, and you have to walk up hundreds of steps to get to the town, so they didn’t really miss much of the difficult hike in taking the train!

Rather than attempt the two-hour, difficult trail between Corniglia and Manarola, we decided that it would be a better use of our time to take the train down to Riomaggiore (the fifth town) for a little relaxation and an early dinner. We grabbed a quick drink at a bar overlooking the harbor, and then walked up into town to get some dinner. My mom and I got some lobster-stuffed pasta with shrimp and zucchini, Kati got a potato gnocchi with sea bream, and my dad got a lovely spaghetti carbonara. We finished the night by getting some gelato - Witten picked out a milk cream that she loved and ate all of - and then stopping by the nearby supermarket in Manarola to pick up a few beers for the evening. Kati and I put Witten down and then sat out on the streets of Manarola drinking our beers and taking in the atmosphere.