Cinque Terre is a national park known for picturesque villages that dot the coast line of the Ligurian Sea. We were based out of Florence and since we were so close, we knew we had to visit! Join us as we skip down the coast on our Cinque Terre adventure hiking along the Azure Trail.

For this this journey, we decided to take a tour with Walkabout Florence because of the amazing reviews we read and the fact that parts of the trail are still not in the best condition since flooding in 2014 and we didn’t want to be in over our heads for a nice day hike. At the end of the journey we were not disappointed with our decision! 

To start our adventure we arrived in La Spezia to catch the train into the Riviera coastline of Cinque Terre and start our journey on the Sentiero Azzurro cliffside hiking trail that connects the main 5 coasts cities of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. Note: € 13 per person is the cost of a day pass for access into Cinque Terre which and includes unlimited train travel between all of the cities and La Spezia. There are other options you can find here if you are staying longer than just a day.

Once inside the national park we skipped Riomaggiore, the first town on the path, and started in Manarola. Our guide let us know that the trail between the two is still a mess.

Manarola is the oldest of the towns and is known for it’s surrounding wine vineyards that product fantastic vino. As we started to ascend the hill, the picture perfect view of Manarola came into view and we already knew this was going to be a fantastic day. 

The next stop on our adventure was Corniglia. To get there we hoped on the train for one stop and then made our hiking journey up 386 stairs, zig-zagging back and forth until we finally made it to the town. Corniglia’s charm comes from the narrow winding streets full of cute shops, cafe’s, and art galleries. At the end of the town was a viewpoint with sweeping views of the Ligurian Sea. We decided take a seat at a restaurant with a view, grab a glass of local wine with pesto and anchovies bruschetta bites, then listened to the sounds of the crashing waves.  

This next hike was the longest journey we took along the Azure Trail. It is one one of the best maintained portions and anyone with a medium level of skill could easily take this hike. Along the way we were treated with olive tree groves, plums from a wild fruit tree and the most fantastic views of the coastline.

Just over 90 minutes later, we arrived at our third town of the day, Vernazza. It is incredible how the town hugs the cliff as it stretched out to a point and is crowned by the ruins of Doria Castle. This is one of the smallest towns on our adventure so after wandering through the colorful streets we grabbed a drink, sat on a bench to people watch, and relax.

The farthest town in Cinque Terre is Monterosso. This was probably our least favorite town of the day. It felt like a port town a cruise company would build catering to party-going patrons. We were not totally in the mood for bars playing dance music and baking in the heat under colorful umbrellas so we ended up making our way into old town to see the church of San Giovanni Battista, a 12th-century monastery with a memorable black and white facade. After a quick stop we found a cafe and grabbed a cappuccino. 

We all know the saying “save the best for last” and there was no better proof of this than when we arrived in Riomaggiore, our last stop for the day. The most incredible moment was when we rounded the corner to the port and was greeted by the most fantastic view of brightly colored homes layered on top of each other. The energy was infectious was being sunbathed, cliff jumped, and swam in crystal clear water. 

As the day drew to a close, we took the train back to La Spezia and bussed it back to Florence. The end came too quickly and we wished we could have had more time to enjoy Cinque Terre. We are thinking a future extended trip may be in the cards. 

We are two en route for future adventures in Cinque Terre.