casacolleverde: Che Bellezza la Natura - Walking the Cinque Terre

Today we took advantage of the forecast good weather to do another walk in the Cinque Terre. This time we chose the path from Manarola to Corniglia via Volastra....Sam our Norfolk terrier couldnt wait to be off.

Manarola from the path

To avoid the crowds and the heat of the day(inspite of the fresh breeze) we left the house at 7.30 and drove to La Spezia train station and parked in the new underground carpark. We got the 8.30 train and got off in Manarola. It was still quite chilly when we set out and we were dressed in walking shoes, shorts,t shirt, sweat shirts and a scarf each.. We also had water proof tops( in case of rain very English) and water in our rucksack.

We headed up the hill towards the church in Manarola and then took the Panoramic path toward Volastra and Corniglia After a steep initial climb which had us panting (not that fit) we were down to our t - shirts and perspiring. The fantastic views and wild flowers gave us many reasons to stop and take pictures ...just as well.

Sam who had stormed off in front soon began to slow down as well.

The path is beautiful rewarding you with stunning views of the terraces and vines and wild flowers not to forget the cliffs plunging down to the sea. Some concentration is needed when walking due to the nature of the path but I cannot reccommend it enough.

I would also do the route we did Manarola toCorniglia rather than the other way round as the climb up is longer from Corniglia.

The walk took us a little over 2 hours .... but allow between 2 and 3 depending on your pace.