The Sentiero Azzurro, the Blue Path, joins the five villages of the Cinque Terre in about twelve kilometres. You could walk it in a day. We take four, because the point is the villages, not the distance.
The point is the villages, not the distance.
From Riomaggiore to Manarola the path is short and gentle when it is open. Manarola to Corniglia climbs the 382 steps of the Lardarina, and Corniglia to Vernazza is the stretch everyone remembers: olive terraces, lemon trees and the first view of Vernazza’s tower. The last leg to Monterosso is the steepest, and ends at the only long beach on this coast.
Paths close after heavy rain, and some stretches need a park ticket. Your guide checks both every morning, and when a section is shut we take the train or the boat instead.
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