The Cinque Terre

June 10, 2015

The Cinque Terre — as this stretch of five towns along the Italian Riviera is called — is located in northern Italy between Pisa and Genoa. There’s not a museum in sight, just sun, sea, sand, lemon trees, grapevines and lots of tourists.


We camped at Levanto and took the morning train to Montorosso where we began a hike along the to the next town, Valparezza. It was fun, but also steep and challenging. Then we spent time exploring two other villages.

Until the advent of tourism in this generation, the towns were poor and remote. Today, tourism stokes their economies and each is well connected by hourly trains. But traditions are resilient, there’s not a chain store anywhere, and each of the five villages comes with a distinct dialect and its own proud heritage.

To preserve the Cinque Terre’s natural and cultural wonders, Italy has declared the region a park — towns and all. Visitors buy an inexpensive day pass to hike the scenic trail that laces together the unique communities.

One village we visited was Corniglia, with its mellow main square, the only one of the five not on the water. From the train station, a footpath zigzags up nearly 400 stairs to the hilltop town, but we took the little bus instead.

According to legend, a Roman farmer originally settled Corniglia, naming it for his mother, Cornelia, which is how Corniglia is pronounced in Italian. Residents claim Cornelia’s son produced a wine so famous that vases found at Pompeii touted its virtues.

You can see from the photos how lovely this place is. I really enjoyed it.