Via Dell'Amore

Via Dell'Amore, roughly translates to “Lovers Walk,” is a hiking path connecting the five villages of the Cinque Terra, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. This was definitely not a place to miss. You must purchase the national park card for E5 and may also choose the railway pass for an additional fee of E3.50. However, if you have a eurorail ticket you do not need the railway pass, just the national park card, a lesson learned too late.

The walk through the villages took about 5 hours with some parts no steeper than a normal sidewalk to cliffs filled with hundreds of steps. The latter stages of the hike aren’t for the faint of heart, especially in the middle of the day. Knowing that we didn’t want to tackle these hills at the end of a 9 km hike, we started the trek in reverse ending with a nice flat walking path. We do have calves of steel now!

The hike was a nice escape from the big cities filled with statues and museums. The views seemed like something from a movie as we swam in azure blue water, hiked through hills of grape vines and lemon trees, and stopped for Gelato in the small rustic town of Corniglia.

After our hike we found a nice spot on the rocks and relaxed by the ocean until the sun vanished beneath the waves. We promptly passed out soon after.

We will pack up for the next couple days in Siena, Tuscany.