Italy's Cinque Terre is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and also a national park covering both the land and waters of this coastal area. Hiking trails run throughout the park in a well organized and marked network maintained by the national park. Many of the trails have existed since Roman times. The trails can be found at different levels of the steep hillsides. Some run close to the coast and even over hang the Ligurean Sea in places. Other trails run high above the sea affording huge views of the sea and the villages below. The terrain can be easy in places where the trails are paved with flat stones and accompanied by handrails. But most of the trails are very narrow without handrails and one must step very carefully. There are also 100's of steps mostly formed out of stones and large rocks.
The trails run through carefully terraced olive groves and vineyards. It is hard to imagine how it is possible to tend and harvest since the land is very steep.
The trails link the villages so it is possible to hike from one to another. We chose to hike on two trails. The first hiking day was a five kilometer hike from Manarola north to the next village of Corniglia. Our second hike, on a separate day, was from Corniglia north to its neighbor Vernazza. Each hike took us about two hours to complete.
At many points along the way it is hard to imagine you are really seeing such incredible beauty. Here are a few photos from the two hikes.
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