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If you’re looking to “get away from it all” and simply bask in each other company enjoying the Mediterranean breeze and an incredible sunset, if you like hiking among bushes of lavender and wild herbs, if you love interacting with the locals and learning old fisherman’s stories in front of a glass of ” Sciacchetra’ “, then any of these beautiful villages, their cozy colorful accommodations and the small piazzas with ”Osterias” will make the perfect vacation for you.
Take the easy stroll from Riomaggiore to Manarola aptly named the Via Dell’Amore(Lover’s Walk). If you are so inclined, sketch the names of you and your amore on the well-inscripted tunnel walls.Relax in privacy and enjoy what may be the most heart stirring ocean views.Here you can watch dolphins and whales go by from your large decks or just go down for a private stroll.You can hike, swim, drink red wine, and watch blazing Mediterranean sunsets.The Cinque Terre are five villages: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso.
Cinque Terre is a place of quiet beauty where one can still easily hang out on the bench overlooking the sea for the majority of the day visiting the villages connected by footpaths, narrow roads and a local train.They lie in a stretch of eighteen kilometres along the rocky and irregular coast of eastern Liguria. In 1999 this territory and the marine environment have been declared Unesco protected area.The scenery is gorgeous, but what makes the Cinque Terre special is not just the natural beauty. The place has a unique charm. Observing the signs of the hard work that, through the centuries, has made this impervious strip of land acces-sible and habitable we understand that for the residents It wasn’t an easy life, but they struggled and worked a lot to find a way to survive where none was offered.
When Byzantine armies conquered what was left of the Roman Empire in 640 AD, the inhabitants of eastern Liguria hid in the hills. Some found their refuge in a stretch of brutal cliffs, and by building a few terraces on the steep hillsides, the new residents managed to grow the crops they needed to feed themselves. Joining with the few families of fishermen who were already living in some of the rocky hillsides, and added to by the occasional group of Greeks seeking protection from the Byzantine emperors, several hundred families eventually joined the hardy groups, and a new sense of community emerged among the group of tiny cliffside hamlets.
For more than 1,000 years, the Cinque Terre farmers practiced heroic viticulture here. Generations of determined ancients piled up rocks on the cliffs and made narrow terraces on which they could grow grapevines. At harvest time, they used ropes to handle the baskets of grapes and negotiate the slopes. Except for a few trading vessels, Cinque Terre remained isolated for the next 600 years. For the past 100 years, the stacked rock walls have been crumbling faster than they can be rebuilt and the residents have watched their heritage slowly disappear. Even nowadays the Cinque Terre are hard to reach, except by train, and this contributes to preserve intact the surroundings in their characteristic Mediterranean appearance.
Cinque Terre Bird’s eye view
Oct 26th, 2009 by admin
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THE CINQUE TERRE BY CAR
The road to the Cinque Terre is very narrow and has lots of blends. Only a few tourists visit the Cinque Terre by car.
Almost all leave their car in Levanto and use the train or even the boat to arrive to the Cinque Terre.
From Genova (north) take the A-12 Autostrada south in the direction of Livorno (Genova - Livorno).
From Pisa (south) take the A-12 Autostrada north in the direction of Genova (Livorno - Genova).
From the A-12 Autostrada, either coming from the north or south, take the Carrodano - Levanto exit. Follow the signs to Levanto or to the Cinque Terre (Monterosso). The Carrodano - Levanto exit is only 15 km from Monterosso and is an easy drive.
THE CINQUE TERRE BY BOAT
How to visit the Cinque Terre by boat:
The Cinque Terre can be visited on foot, walking along the magnificent footpaths connecting them, or by train, with all its advantages. For the ones who love the sea there is also the possibility to travel by boat, that offers unforgettable sights and unique sensations. The boats are operated by the “Consorzio Marittimo Turistico 5 Terre-Golfo dei Poeti” that offers numerous possibilities for what concerns timetable, itineraries and stops. The most important berths are: Levanto, Portovenere, Lerici and La Spezia, although during summer there are other connections along the coast (Departure from Deiva Marina n the months of June, July and August too). With the same line it is possible to reach also Portofino. Prices and itineraries:The price of the tickets varies according to the chosen route and the period of the year. For the line Cinque Terre you can choose between two possibilities: • Full-Day Excursion with at pleasure stop in the towns of Cinque Terre (not in Corniglia) with other stop in Portovenere for the ones coming from La Spezia or Lerici. In that case the price of the ticket is between Euro 11,00 and Euro 22,00 per person. • Half-Day Excursion with one-hour stop in the Cinque Terre (Vernazza or Monterosso) and return to Portovenere or La Spezia/Lerici in the late afternoon. The price of this ticket is between Euro 12,00 and Euro 16,00 per person. For the Portofino line you can do the same thing: you can decide to leave from La Spezia, Levanto, Portovenere, Lerici or one of the Cinque Terre (not in Corniglia). Also in that case there are departures from Deiva marina but only in summer season. The costs are Euro 25,00 (Return Ticket from La Spezia, Lerici or Portovenere), Euro 20,00 (Return Ticket from Cinque Terre), Euro 18,00 (Return Ticket from Levanto or Bonassola) or Euro 16,00 (Return Ticket from Deiva Marina or Moneglia) The boat company previews other alternatives to these two main lines, like for example the Excursion to the Aquarium of Genoa, the Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto tour (Golfo dei Poeti line) or to Capraia Island. Timetable vary according to the season; we remind you that the service can be interrupted o suspended in every moment due to not favourable sea conditions. For further information please visit: www.battellierigenova.it www.golfoparadiso.itTHE CINQUE TERRE BY TRAIN
Travel by train: for the ones that do not love walking, the train represents the best way to visit all the villages of the Cinque Terre. Until the end of the 19th Century these towns were completely isolated and reachable just on foot or by sea. In 1860 (works ended in 1874) it was built the first tunnel of this track connecting Genoa with La Spezia and crossing almost entirely all this territory through tunnels (32 tunnels were built here!). This means of transportation give the possibility to visit the villages in a discreet and easy way. Local or regional trains coming from Sestri Levante direction la Spezia or vice versa stop in all the towns with a frequency of about 30 Minutes.
Some national or international trains stop at the stations of Monterosso and Riomaggiore.
Travelling times:Riomaggiore – Manarola: 2 minutes; Manarola – Corniglia: 3 minutes; Corniglia – Vernazza: 4 minutes; Vernazza – Monterosso: 3 minutes Connections between Deiva Marina and the Cinque Terre: Local trains connect Deiva Marina with the Cinque Terre.
Deiva Marina - Monterosso: 16 minutes; Deiva Marina - Vernazza: 23 minutes; Deiva Marina – Corniglia: 26 minutes; Deiva marina – Manarola: 29 minutes; Deiva marina – Riomaggiore: 32 minutes Price of tickets and Cinque Terre Card: the price of the tickets is quite cheap but there s a small difference between normal and weekend fares. For example, Deiva Marina-Riomaggiore, the longest route, costs Euro 2,10 with normal fare, while the weekend fare costs Euro 2,20.
The Cinque Terre Card entitles you to walk through all the footpaths between Levanto and La Spezia together with train transportation.
The Cinque Terre Card has a validity of 1, 3 or 7 days and includes a series of services:
• Free use of the Blue trail (Riomaggiore-Monterosso) • Unlimited journeys by train on the stage La Spezia-Levanto and vice versa • Free use of the minibuses at the interior of the five villages for people and luggage transportation (cost without card: 1,50 per person per way) • Free use of the Environment Education Centre of Torre Guardiola in Riomaggiore The Cinque Terre Card and the normal railway tickets sre sold at the railway stations, in the information Centres and a the Hotel Clelia in Deiva Marina www.trenitalia.com