Cinque Terre (Italy Part 2)

The villages in the Cinque Terre National Park were only accessible by boat until the construction of the railway in the 1870s. We wanted to take the train to the coastal hiking trail and then return by boat.

But first, we got off in Riomaggiore, even though we couldn't use the first part of the trail due to maintenance and closure. Instead, we explored the village.

The houses, which are up to five stories high, are built on the hilly coast, so we walked up and down as we explored the village.

In Manarola, we could only make a quick stop by train, as the second section of the trail is also closed until 2021.

From a promontory, you have a very nice view of the village - although the lighting wasn't ideal for photography when we were there.

In Corniglia, we had to climb a staircase with 377 steps from the train station to the village, as it was built on a cliff 190 meters above the sea.

We skipped the shuttle bus to the village because we were here to hike after all.

In the village, we walked around the narrow streets and visited the old church in the town center.

Then we started our hike on the "Sentiero Azzuro," a coastal hiking trail.

The trail led us up and down with beautiful views of the sea until we reached the village of Vernazza.

As in the first two villages, tourists crowded the streets here. We managed to find a table at a small street bistro and refreshed ourselves with a focaccia.

Then we walked to the harbor, which is surrounded by a densely built promontory.

The longer hike took us to Monterosso al Mare, the largest of the five villages.

Along the way, we received the message that our boat tour scheduled for the evening had to be canceled due to rough seas. It seems we're not having luck with weather on boat trips during this vacation...

In Monterosso, we could already see the sandy beaches with lounge chairs and umbrellas from a distance - of course, tightly packed here as well.

Before we had to return by train, we treated ourselves to an ice cream and took a short walk through the village.