Cinque Terre Italy ( The 5 lands)

Onwards on our journey leaving France behind and starting our travels on to Italy.

Our train was booked for 9.55 am to leave Nice'.  The station looked a bit chaotic when we arrived in plenty of time for our departure.  Soon discovered the reason.  There had been an accident on the line earlier in the day, (suffice to  say not caused by french railways).  I will leave it at that.

Coincidentally, it was a Friday, and on Friday on the French/Italian border town of Ventimiglia, there is a gigantic market held which brings people from far and wide.
So to add to the chaos, the number of people waiting to get on trains had to be seen to be believed.  Eventually the passengers from three trains that had not arrived all were put onto the only train heading to Italy at that time.

But wait, the story continues, once we were all jammed and sardined into the train and expecting to leave at any moment, that moment didn't arrive.
For those that haven't guessed, that train broken down and so we waited, and waited, and waited a bit more.
An hour passed, still sardined in and with no air conditioning, they eventually got the train to go and we were finally on our way.  What a mission.  Of course we had long ago missed our connection in Genoa, so there was nothing to be done but to wait for the afternoon train to take us to the Cinque terre.

So four hours late arriving to the 5 lands, it was early evening, we checked into our accommodation, had quick showers and enjoyed a well earned drink.

 Once on our way though, there was some awesome views to be had from the train window.  Into Italy and all the way to the cinque terre, the train hugs the coast right beside the Mediterranean Sea often alongside the beaches that line the entire length of the coast.

For our first night we had booked accommodation at the first of the five villages called Monterosso al Mare.  It is the only one of the 5 villages which has a sandy beach.  Unfortunately we arrived too late to make use of the beach as the sun was starting to go down.

At all the villages when you exit the station, it is necessary to walk through a tunnel to reach the main part of each village. The train journey between villages is through tunnels cut through the mountain, then the train just pops out of the tunnel at each station.

For our second night we booked accommodation at the last village, Riomaggiore.  Due to landslides there are only 2 of the 4 walking tracks open at the moment. We left our luggage stored at Monterosso and took only our backpacks for an overnight  stay at Riomaggiore. We set off mid morning to do the walk between the first 2 villages. Monterosso and Vernazza.  It took almost 3 hours to complete, we didn't rush and due to only 2 tracks open, there were a lot of people walking the track which slowed the progress.  In places the track is so narrow, it is safer to stop, plant yourself against the rock face and let people pass that way.

The start of the walk looking back at Monterosso al Mare

During the walk

First glimpse of the next village, Vernazza

The first thing we did when we reached Vernazza was to change out of our walking shoes, then go to the first snack bar and buy something cold to drink.  A beer for me and a softdrink for David, the cold of the cans was very appreciated. The next thing was to paddle our feet in the cool water of the Mediterranean Sea.  After a look around the village we headed off on the train to Riomaggiore to get settled in there and have a look at that village.

This is the street we stayed in on the way to our accommodation in Riomaggiore

Riomaggiore, as are all the villages, look exactly like the pictures you see in the brochures of the villages.

We decided not to tackle the second walk which is still open but instead opted to take the train between the villages.  In the evening I took the train to the second last village, Manarola.  A storm had been brewing early in the evening but when I arrived at the station at Manarola the clouds parted, the sun broke through and I got to see the village in all its splendour.

For our last night at the 5 lands, we went again by train back to the start and stayed at the village of Levanto.  It is not one of the 5 villages but a larger town just before the first of the 5.  By the time we reached our accommodation, the weather was starting to change.  The storms of the previous evening finally arrived.  We had a little walk around between showers and then found a laundrymat to do some washing.  We got our domestic chores finished while it rained, grabbed a quick bite to eat and retreated back to our room.
The next day the weather had cleared, we had time to have another look around the town and a walk before taking the train after lunch to Milano.

We didn't take many photos at Levanto due to the weather,  this one shows that we are back to a more
level part of the country rather than the sheer cliff faces of the 5 villages.

So all in all we managed to see 4 of the 5 villages.  The only one missed was the middle village called Corniglia. When we heard there were over 300 steps from the railway station up to the village we decided we didn't have a great need to see that village.  It is the only village that sits on top of the hill and does not go down to the water.

Loved our time at the Cinque Terre and is a place that we would definitely recommend for anyone visiting Italy not to miss.

So it is off to Milano and back to the big city again.  No doubt we will find plenty to amuse ourselves in Milano.

So until next time, see you all later.  Love to everyone.