Walking the Cinque Terre path can be done easily in a day, or split out across several days to give you time to explore the little villages thoroughly. I chose to do the former, mostly because of timing, but also because I enjoy walking and don't really enjoy really busy places.
You can choose to do the path from Monterosso to Riomaggiore, like me, or the other way from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. I think this was the hardest decision I had to make, as I really liked the idea of going to Riomaggiore and Manarola (the busiest of the 5 villages) in the morning light. But you can't walk between these two towns anymore, you have to catch the train. Oh, decisions! I ended up choosing Monterosso to Riomaggiore firstly because the weather was terrible and secondly because I thought if I started with the two that you had to catch the train between, that I might then not bother to do the walk... terrible reasoning I know!
Another thing to consider is the weather. As I mentioned above, the day I chose started off terribly - it was raining, windy, thunderstorming, etc. I'd chosen that day out of the two options I had because it was supposed to be slightly cooler - 32 instead of 35 degrees. I don't know if it would have made a difference going on the other day, as it was so humid when I went...
A few notes of things for the walk:
- Make sure to buy a Cinque Terre pass. You can buy these from lots of places, including tourist information and train stations in places nearby. The pass allows you access to the park, as well as free travel on the trains to the different villages. It is a national park area too, and apparently some of the fee goes towards maintenance of the park (I do hope this is the case!). I only had one ranger check my pass, but if I didn't have one, I would have been fined. So make sure you get one!
- Wear sturdy shoes. I wore hiking boots because my other choice was Birkenstocks, but a good pair of trainers would be fine. It is quite rocky and lots of uneven places in parts, lots of stone steps and dirt, so definitely don't wear sandals.
- I suggest carrying water, but you don't have to as you can buy a bottle in the towns. I carried all my water with me because I don't like using single-use plastic if possible, but I understand that it can be quite heavy and its a long walk. There were refill points in the villages. You can also buy drinks in all the villages, and even in between villages. I'd say the same for food - I didn't carry any, but you could if you wanted to.
Being a coast path, it is very hilly. So while it might be 25km or so, it was a hard 25km. Also note that you can't travel from Corniglia to Manarola on the coast path but have to make a detour to Volastra. You also can't walk from Manarola from Riomaggiore at all because a landslide has wiped out the path, so you have to catch the train in the section.
I do wish I'd taken two items of clothing - another t-shirt and my swimsuit. The water looked so glorious and I was so hot that I would have loved to go swimming. And another t-shirt would have been nice, as the one I was wearing got soaked through. But I forgot the t-shirt, and I think the swimsuit would have been ok if I was doing the walk over several days. In one day, I just couldn't be bothered getting out of my clothes and then putting dirty clothes on afterwards. And probably needed to carry a towel.... it all became too hard.
If I were to do it again, I would probably give myself a couple of days. I'd have liked to see Manarola at sunrise, as it would look gorgeous in the peachy light. And I'd like to have had a swim and a nice lunch somewhere. And I really like Vernazza so would have liked to spend more time there too. I also would have gone to Portovenere nearby, but it was just too much to try to squeeze into one day.
I would 100% recommend doing the coast path. If you have limited time, a day is enough to cover the whole path. You could also use the train for most of the villages but choose to walk between two (would suggest Corniglia and Vernazza, as this was a nice section of path) which is a good way of seeing the villages without too much exertion. You can also walk from Levanto, where I was staying, to Monterosso, although that would add lots more km to the walk, as its a long section.
It was a lovely hike, across some varied terrain - vineyards, olive groves, forest, villages - so you never get bored. All the hard work was definitely worth it!
See more detailed posts here:
