Another slightly hidden stairwell on the opposite side of Vernazza’s main street pointed us towards Corniglia. Overall this hike seemed slightly easier than Monterosso to Vernazza, although it started out tougher. Yet again, this hike had many steep steps to get out of town and into the hills above, and the first half of the hour and a half hike was mainly uphill. We found the trails on this stretch to have a lot of loose rocks so you have to watch your footing. The second half of the hike – after reaching the highest point in Cinque Terre – was considerably easier.
My favorite view in all of Cinque Terre was at the start of this hike looking back over Vernazza. With the castle rising from the rocky cliffs and the mountains in the background, it is truly a stunning sight.
After taking in the amazing view behind us, we headed onward and upward towards Corniglia. After many different sets of steps, we got our first peek at Corniglia in the distance. Corniglia is unique because it is built entirely on top of the cliff with no access to the shore so it has a different look and feel than the other towns.
We continued on across the hilltop with a much easier hike at this point. Because Corniglia is on top of the hill and not built into and down it, the end of this hike did not have the steep decline of the others. Before entering town, we walked through a hillside vineyard.
Again, the trail ended at the highest part of town and let us off in a narrow alleyway which led to a main square with the church, Chiesa Di San Pedro.
After two relatively strenuous hikes, we were ready for a well-deserved break and a late lunch. We wandered further down into town looking for a place to eat and settled on Food and Sea. The food was good and the view was even better. The terrace overlooks vineyards and cliffs to the sea beyond. We relaxed and recovered, enjoying our meal, a limoncino, and the view.
Having finished the first two legs of the coastal trail, we were ready to take a train back to Monterosso. Of course, you can’t get anywhere in Cinque Terre without hills and steps. Unfortunately in this case we had to go back up the steep hill into town and then back down to the train station below. The town is surrounded by lush green hills, lemon trees, and wisteria in full bloom so even this short trip rewarded us with beautiful sights.
And we got to see tomorrow’s first destination, Manarola, in the distance.
But the last task of the day was still before us… taking the 382 steps down to the train station. The Lardarina is a long set of steps leading up from the Corniglia train station into town. The stairs are not actually very steep but with 33 flights and switchbacks, they are extremely imposing from the top or bottom. I was happy that we only had backpacks and no luggage. A bus is available if you don’t want to take the stairs, but where’s the fun in that? According to my Fitbit, we had already walked over 25,000 steps and 200 flights of stairs. What’s a few more?
That evening we were booked on a sunset boat tour with Angelo’s Boat Tours out of Monterosso. It was the very start of the season for them. In fact, when I contacted them several weeks in advance to book the tour, they could not guarantee that their boat would even be in the water by our trip. About a week before, we did get an email that they would be ready to go on our dates, and we scheduled the Evening Tapas Tour. I was really excited to have the opportunity to see the towns from the sea. I think it provides a completely different perspective than what we experienced on the hiking trails. Unfortunately, we got an email around 2:30 in the afternoon saying that the tour was cancelled due to high swells which would make the trip “not so pleasant”. We were disappointed but appreciative that they considered the quality and comfort of the cruise ahead of their own profits. As sad as I was to miss out on the experience, as someone prone to seasickness, I was glad not to be out on a boat in those conditions. They offered to reschedule us for the following night but we already had plans so they issued us a full refund. This just gives us an excuse to go back again someday!
