Cinque Terre - The 5 Villages along the Coast

Tobias Heller
29. Jan. 2017
6 Min. Lesezeit

Starting at an unearthly hour in the morning I step outside into Florence awakening streets, to my disliking the air is most and humid, the floor is glistening wet and even though it is yet dark I can imagine the sky is covered in grey clouds. Not really the best circumstances to start a whole day outside loaded with my heavy backpack, aiming from village to village. I walk over the bridge that crosses the broad river that floats underneath me amidst grey mist to the train station, taking the train in order to go to La Spezia from where I would go through all the 5 villages of Cinque Terre.

Village

Riomaggiore - The first one on the list

As I arrive in La Spezia, I intend to first look around there as well, as I always take the chance to see new places along the way if possible, even though there isn't anything specific worth seeing, there still could be something to be found that enlightens me. Unfortunately, rain is dripping down heavily on me, which makes me pull my rain jacket over me and cover my head - at least I'd stay dry under there, as the jacket has proved it's worth already on long hikes through the alps. I reluctantly stroll around, in a grouchy unjoyous mood, but my spirit fades after several steps in contrary to the rain which gets even heavier by the minute, so I return to the train station, about to cancel the whole thing going straight to my final goal Genova. Hoping the best, I await for the next train to bring me to the first village named Riomaggiore. Once I arrive there, I encounter a bunch of asian tourists armed with umbrellas in various colors and - knowing that asians in general always know the direct ways to the main spots to see - I follow them, trotting behind them feeling a bit like an guest who just has invited himself for dinner.

And it proofs to be the right thing to do, the way leads through a tunnel and opens up in the end into a little square, with houses seemingly piled up on each other to the backside of the little mountain. I can't help it, despite my lessened motivation I feel a surge of joy and adventure seeping into me - although it is raining, the whole scenario here has a mystic and unforseen touch. I can only imagine the beauty of this place in a warm, sunny summer day, but surrounded by fog, parts of the coastline protruding out of the mainland and fading into the background, the colorful houses sticking out of the white clouds that engulf them partially, rain constantly falling upon it's visitors and the cold seeping into my bones mercilessly makes it somehow special. Thus I got a feeling that it might not be the most recommendable weather, but anyways a fantastic venturesome and overall captivating feeling.

Village

Manarola - The famous one

I hurry back through the tunnel, following the schedule of the train departures, which leave normally every hour. Also my new won asian tourist group is there as well, waiting for the next train, constantly on their phones while waiting. Sadly the walkway to the next village is closed due to dangerous weather conditions and maintaining otherwise I would have walked the distance. Daringly I don't by a train ticket, as the ride will take me only about 3 minutes and hopefully I won't get caught on that ride - in case I would pretend to have missed to get out for the first village and accidentally gone to the second one, not sure if any ticket inspector would buy that story and let me get away with impunity. I feel uncomfortable, watching the passageways carefully if anyone comes and hop off hastily once the short ride is done, making me feel utterly bad ass.

The way leads through a longer street which ends up in a little elongated square with boats placed next to each other, and stairs thrust into the rocky coast lead down to the sea. Only there I am able to grasp the architectural structure of that village, where the bunch of colored houses are piled up on one bigger cliff, offering a quite dramatic scene as I proceed to walk up the passage way that leads upwards but into the opposite direction. Meanwhile the rain actually stopped pouring down, leaving only leftovers of grey clouds in the air covering the whole sky, but at least the darkness has drained out of them with the downfall of the rain. I recognize this village from pictures, and it is one of the most likely to be seen in the first places and the most frequently demonstrated one if you try to look it up in the internet. I linger here for longer, skipping the next oncoming train in order to give the bunch of tourists a head start, enjoying the forlornness and tranquility of the dramatic coastline place.

Village

Corniglia - The third in the Group

To go to Corniglia I buy a ticket for about 1,70 Euros, as I don't want to provoke my normally only to a limited extent available luck, even though no one controls me on the short ride. This indeed is the village a friend told me is negligible if you are on a tight schedule, but my timing is good and my morningly bad mood has subsided mostly. The bag's weight is acceptable, even though I am not used to carry it around for the whole day - and furthermore ever since I am traveling it gained some kilos. In Corniglia long stairways zick-zack upwards and I find myself walking tiny little streets in the village. On top the space opens up into a square, which offers a view along the coastline - in my case a still quite cloudy and foggy version.

While walking back to the train station I walk through narrow little streets with unique decorations and elaborated details. Once I take the main road leading down, thereby not taking the stairs I took previously but making a longer bow to get to the train station, I encounter fields with lemon trees growing in the steep hills and flowers already blooming everywhere despite the early time of the year. I guess this place in summer must be fantastic, less dramatic but more of a paradisal spot.

Village

Vernazza - On it goes

The fourth one in the group is Vernazza, this one is more interesting than the previous one, even though the style of the houses remind me a lot of the first two villages, anyways the construction of this one is different. The houses are not climbing high up like in Manarola for instance, and leave more of the surrounding hill free and covered in green bushes and trees, the fog still clinging to the top peak. The sea makes is way deeper inside the city through a laid-out man-made basin, encompassed by concrete.

Village

Monterosso al Mare - The final Village

When I get out of the train station for the last village, the first thing that I spot is the long grey strip of pebble beach, waves crashing in forced to do so by the strong seaside wind. Looking in direction of the other villages, I see the coast extensions that sweep inwards the sea, the more distant they are the more they are swallowed by the fog. In the front I find a little blocky building sitting enthroned on a small cliff, and one of those rocks pierces out dramatically, resisting the waves and parting the sea water that blast strongly against it's stony front. I need to rub my eyes in disbelief - finally amidst the clouds the sun forces it's way out, illuminating the beach and giving it a less sad and darkened appearance.

Departure

The way further on - Genova

After managing all of the villages, and the day changing from heavy rain to at least some sunshine, I wait here for the next train which is supposed to bring me on to the next italian city Genova. Our short term visitor has pleased us only for a while with it's appearance, because the sun is about to set already, once more darkening the sky.