If I had to sum up Cinque Terre in one word it would be: overrated.
Slept ok, til 06:00. Slow getting ready (really no rush for the morning as the best light would be in the afternoon for most places). Out the door I think around 08:00.
Went to the station to get a Cinque Terre Express ticket (really just an all day train ticket between Levanto and La Spezia, but also gives you free access to the station toilets (normally a euro), the walking tracks (which you need for the best view of Vernazza) and the shuttle bus in Corniglia (if you could be bothered waiting around and then being squished in like sardines)).
Then found some breakfast. There's a burger joint at the station which had some sandwiches but there were lots of people milling about getting their coffees and stuffs and I was getting more and more stressed by the second. But eventually got some food and sat in the quiet area to eat it and calmed down again.
Our first stop was Riomaggiore (although we really should have gone to Monterosso first for the light). When we got off the train we saw a walkway round the cliffs and thought that would be nice. And it was. Until we got to town and had no idea where to go. We should have gone down to the right. Instead we went up to the left. And kept coming up against dead ends. Eventually I looked stressed enough that someone asked me if I was ok and I said no, and she sounded American and gave us some advice about what was where so that was sweet of her. She said there was a lookout further up, but the way into down was down via the marina. So down we went. Found the marina. Looking very much like something out of Luca. Only with crowds. CROWDS. Hordes of tourists already. Walked up into town a bit. We were both a bit stressed from all the climbing already, so Mum sat there while I walked all the way up the main road of town, up the stairs to the church, back along the terrace to try and find the view (it wasn't super awesome) and then back down via the same stairs we'd been on in the morning. Finally we walked back through the tunnel to the train station.
Walkway from the station to Riomaggiore
Harbour at Riomaggiore
Stairway in Riomaggiore
Alley in Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore
View over Riomaggiore
San Giovanni Battista
Interior of San Giovanni Battista
View north along the coastline from Riomaggiore
View of Riomaggiore train station
View north along the coastline from Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore
Our second stop was Monterosso. As noted, we should have done this one first as it was in the sun in the morning. But by the time we go there it had started to cloud over. This place reminded me of Israel, where you can't get onto the beach unless you pay for it. Not that you would have wanted to anyway with the awful grey sand (or rocks in some places). We walked all the way around the headland to the next part of town. Along with all the crowds. Did I mention the crowds? And then wandered back again.
Beach at Monterosso
Beach at Monterosso
Looks romantic doesn't it? Sure, if you don't mind a non-stop stream of tourists filing past right next to you
Tower and walkway at Monterosso
Beach at Monterosso al Mare
Via Roma in Monterosso al Mare
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Interior of Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Oratorio Mortis et Orationis - Confraternita dei Neri
Interior of Oratorio Mortis et Orationis - Confraternita dei Neri
Beach at Monterosso
Our third stop was Vernazza. OMFG the CROWDS. We walked all the way down to the water. Then went back to try and find something for lunch. In the end we got a "bowl" of calamari and chips. The calamari was actually quite nice, the chips fairly average. I asked if there was anywhere to wash our hands. He was like, at the train station. Yeah really helpful. At this point the only public toilets outside the station we'd seen were in Riomaggiore. So hand sanitiser it was. Then we tried to find the walk up to the north of town where you get the best views. We tried one set of stairs which turned out to be a dead end. So walked all the way back to the station to find a map or something. Did I mention how UN-user friendly these towns are? So far we hadn't seen ANY local town maps. Far out, even Cremona, Novara and Pavia had tourist maps. At the station we did find a hiking map, but it was at a scale that gave you NO indication of where it started. So eventually we asked someone in a store where the start of the hike was. She said, near the pharmacy on the right. So we headed down. There wasn't any pharmacy, but we did eventually find a stair case, and on closer inspection it did have a tiny sign to the track number we wanted. So up we went. Took a little while but it was lovely and had a great view of the town. Then turned around and came back again. Then back to the station and off we went.
Via Roma in Vernazza
Vernazza waterfront
Boats in Vernazza harbour
Vernazza
Vernazza
Vernazza
Cave and opening to the sea in Vernazza
Mum and me at the iconic lookout in Vernazza
Vernazza from the hillside north of town
Vernazza from the hillside north of town
Vernazza from the hillside north of town
This is the entrance to the walk to the lookout if you're trying to find it
Our fourth stop was Corniglia. I wasn't going to bother with this one since it's a pain to get to, but Mum wanted to do all five towns so off we went. We took the road instead of the Giant Staircase (382 steps), which turned out to actually be quite pleasant, on account of NO CROWDS. Did I mention the crowds? We decided not to take the bus because we probably would have had to wait for another bus or forty minutes (on account of All The People waiting), so yeah decided to walk. Got to the top and decided to get an ice cream which was nice enough. Had to deal with ice cream drips all over my camera bag :( But then walked up to the end of the peninsula for a look at the view. Then down the Giant Staircase back to the station.
Alley in Corniglia
View northwest along the coast from Corniglia
View towards San Bernadino further up the hill
View southeast towards Manarola
Monumento ai Caduti
Looking down the Scalinata Lardarina staircase
Looking up the Scalinata Lardarina staircase
Our fifth top was Manorola. I decided I was getting to the point where I should go to the loo. On account of not having been on all day. On account of being dehydrated. On account of NOBODY GOES TO THE TOILET IN EUROPE SO THEY DON'T PROVIDE ANY. Ahem. I always tend to dehydrate myself in Europe because toilets are such a pain to find, and when you do find them you usually have to pay. As I mentioned, the only public toilets are at the station, except for that ONE I saw in the morning in Riomaggiore. I was going to go at Corniglia but the one at the station was closed. So we went at Manorola (Mum went earlier at Monterosso while we were waiting for a train, and it took up the entire time we had to wait). So we had to wait, I dunno, maybe fifteen minutes. There were three toilets in the block, but one was "out of order" and the other one the attendant was using has her office, cause she had all her crap in it. So there was ONE toilet for a whole queue of people. I probably could have waited but I didn't know how much walking we'd need to do in Manorola. Not that I really wanted to do much anyway as my ankles were ACHING. So, loo done we walked through the tunnel into town. Headed down to the water front, and then out to the north point for the view. It was quite nice, but the sun just wasn't coming out of the clouds. So we sat down to wait for a bit. And then it rained. And the crowds went away. Which was actually quite lovely. But then the rain stopped, so the crowds came back. We were about to leave but the clouds cleared, so got some photos in the late afternoon sun which was nice. Then back to the train back to La Spezia.
View down Via Renato Birolli
Ominous lighting at Manarola
Rock formations at the lookout
People queuing for a ferry
Manarola from the lookout
View up the hill in Manarola
So yeah. Cinque Terre. Overrated. Sure the towns are amazingly pretty, but the CROWDS make it quite intolerable. I was over the day by Riomaggiore (much like we were over the day very early when we went to Prague). Still, I did get quite a few very nice photos, so I guess I can't complain too much heh.
Walked back to the room and had a beer and relaxed for half an hour (I started blogging and downloaded some of my photos). Then headed out to find some dinner. Found a trattoria and had some very nice chicken with a mushroom sauce, and some creamy mushroom spaghetti.
Back to the room to collapse. With aircon.
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