Hiking the Sentiero Azzurro Cliff Path

The Cinque Terre (Five Lands) are five villages on the Ligurian coast south of La Spezia: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. They were built on near-vertical cliffs from the medieval period, connected by the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Trail) — a cliff path that has allowed movement between the villages for centuries and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 along with the villages themselves. The views from the path — especially the Corniglia-to-Vernazza section — are among the finest coastal walks in Europe.

The landscape visible from the path is almost entirely man-made: the dry-stone terraced vineyards that cover every inch of the cliffs have been maintained by hand for a thousand years. The terraces produce the local Sciacchetra wine (a sweet, concentrated dessert wine) and Vermentino (a dry white). The work of maintaining these terraces is extraordinary — no machinery can access most of them — and the terrace walls, if unrolled, would extend for 7,000 kilometres. The fact that these terraces are still maintained at all is a minor miracle of stubborn human habit.

The Cinque Terre is heavily visited from June through September. The path sections occasionally close after rain or storm damage. The correct approach is to take the early train from La Spezia (40 minutes from Pisa) and begin walking before the crowds. Vernazza and Manarola are the two most beautiful villages; Monterosso has the only real beach. Stay one or two nights in Vernazza if you can find accommodation — the village in the evening, with the boats in the small harbour and the dinner restaurants opening onto the piazza, is perfect.