After initially thinking we might stay one night on the Cinque Terre, we ended up doing two day trips from Florence to the CT via train (it takes about 2.5 hrs by train).
On Saturday we were up at 6:00am, ready to get the 7:00am train from Florence to Pisa, then Pisa to La Spezia, then finally La Spezia to Monterrosso. We finally arrived about 10:30ish on the CT in Monterrosso and Freya was able to find a pair of pantaloni’s which she’ll be able to wear to the Vatican in Rome or any other church we visit which requires pants. We also found a nice beach at Monterrosso, which would be nice for swimming but we forgot our swimmers.
We set off on our walk from Monterrosso to Vernazza along the cliffside paths. The path winds it’s way through vineyards, hillside farming and scrub and offers some spectacular views of the coastline as well as the two villages. In Vernazza we found a lovely takeaway Pizza bar which served large slabs of pizza at a very reasonable price. After a nice lunch, we caught the train down to Manarola for a little look around before some gelato and the 2.5 hrs train journey back to Florence.
On Sunday, we caught the 7:45am train from Florence direct to the CT, with our swimmers packed ready. We arrived at Corniglia, and had to climb 300+ steps from the train station to reach this little village on the clifftop. This was also our starting point for the next stage of the coast walk, from Corniglia to Vernazza (we wanted some more Pizza for lunch 🙂 ). This walk was quite different to yesterdays, with it’s shady windy path through trees and gullies, but was still just as scenic. After another lunch in Vernazza, we caught the train to Monterrosso, but alas the weather had turned a bit windy, the public beach was full and we didn’t want to pay to go swimming, plus we still had one more village to visit, more souvenirs to buy and some gelato to be consumed, so we caught the train to Riomaggiore. This was a nice, little village with some excellent gelato. As we strolled to lookout above the town eating gelato, we both decided that the Cinque Terre would be a place we would definitely come back to again in the future, and we would most likely stay on the coast (if the price wasn’t too high).
After another full day of exploring and walking, we boarded the train to Florence, ready for some dinner and bed.
On our way back to Florence on the train, we passed some mountains which at first sight appear to be covered in snow but are in fact made of ….. Marble. Yes, that’s right the mountains are made of marble, which is mined, sculptured and then used all over the world.
We’re off to Rome tomorrow by train.
Ciao
