Bobbiegib

Two questions here on cinque Terre:

1) We will be staying in Portovenere and want to spend one day seeing the
Cinque Terre. I have been there before but my friends have not. This time we
would like to hike some of their coastline. If I remember correctly we should
drive to La Spezia, leave the car there and take the train to the five towns.
And I remember that they came by every 15 minutes. If we want to hike though,
where should we get off and how far can we go. Do you know the distances and
timing? We often go on 2 day long hikes here but we are certainly not in shape
to climb mountains.

2) Is there any magic to driving from Lucca to Portovenere (I checked 2 mileage
sites and they had different ways to go - any preference?) or for that matter
to the train station in La Spezia from Portovenere.

Jenn

Bobbiegib wrote:

    > Two questions here on cinque Terre:
    >
    > 1) We will be staying in Portovenere and want to spend one day seeing the
    > Cinque Terre. I have been there before but my friends have not. This time we
    > would like to hike some of their coastline. If I remember correctly we should
    > drive to La Spezia, leave the car there and take the train to the five towns.
    > And I remember that they came by every 15 minutes. If we want to hike though,
    > where should we get off and how far can we go. Do you know the distances and
    > timing? We often go on 2 day long hikes here but we are certainly not in shape
    > to climb mountains.

the hike is really trivial -- especially if you have a day to devote to
it -- it is roughly 10 miles and is never very challenging [I am an old
lady and I can do it without much effort] there are steep stairs up to
Corniglia and the path between Vernazza and Monterossa is a big iffy but
nothing anyone who hikes for two days wouldn't find easy There is
nothing remotely like mountain climbing involved -- virtually anyone can
do this.

You can either train to Monterossa and then walk to Riomaggiore or vice
versa -- coming and returning to La Spezia I would go into Monterossa
and walk back. The view of Vernazza hiking the trail in from Monterossa
is the most wonderful vista on the whole hike. IF you decide at some
point to quit, you just hop the train in any town back to La Spezia.

It is a lovely hike -- broken by the towns where you can stop for
coffee, or gelato or lunch or just to poke around. I found Manarola and
Vernazza the most beautiful towns And the trail is mostly fairly level
except for that stint up to Corniglia and some of the Monterossa trail
-although it is mostly downhill into Vernazza -- another benefit of
starting at that end [I can't remember if there is a big climb up to
Corniglia coming that direction -- perhaps that is downstairs rather
than up -- we did the hike in the opposite direction]

Watcher

[email protected] (Bobbiegib) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Two questions here on cinque Terre:
    >
    > 1) We will be staying in Portovenere and want to spend one day seeing the
    > Cinque Terre. I have been there before but my friends have not. This time we
    > would like to hike some of their coastline. If I remember correctly we should
    > drive to La Spezia, leave the car there and take the train to the five towns.
    > And I remember that they came by every 15 minutes. If we want to hike though,
    > where should we get off and how far can we go. Do you know the distances and
    > timing? We often go on 2 day long hikes here but we are certainly not in shape
    > to climb mountains.
    >

I did the walk from Vernazza to Riomaggiore. It is quite easy (I'm
64), except for an early stretch out of Vernazza. I didn't do the
segment between Monterosso and Vernazza (which I hear is the most
strenuous), though I did go a short distance, out of Vernazza up to
the cemetery, to get the spectacular view.

Be sure to get the official pass -- it's inexpensive and comes with a
map -- and they DO check you along the path to be sure you have
it.....

Jenn

Watcher wrote:

    > [email protected] (Bobbiegib) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    >
    >>Two questions here on cinque Terre:
    >>1) We will be staying in Portovenere and want to spend one day seeing the
    >>Cinque Terre. I have been there before but my friends have not. This time we
    >>would like to hike some of their coastline. If I remember correctly we should
    >>drive to La Spezia, leave the car there and take the train to the five towns.
    >>And I remember that they came by every 15 minutes. If we want to hike though,
    >>where should we get off and how far can we go. Do you know the distances and
    >>timing? We often go on 2 day long hikes here but we are certainly not in shape
    >>to climb mountains.
    >>
    >
    >
    > I did the walk from Vernazza to Riomaggiore. It is quite easy (I'm
    > 64), except for an early stretch out of Vernazza. I didn't do the
    > segment between Monterosso and Vernazza (which I hear is the most
    > strenuous), though I did go a short distance, out of Vernazza up to
    > the cemetery, to get the spectacular view.
    >
    > Be sure to get the official pass -- it's inexpensive and comes with a
    > map -- and they DO check you along the path to be sure you have
    > it.....


interesting -- I did this some time back and never heard of this -- is
it a new thing to harvest tourist dollars or did I just not know about
it and err?

Steltzjr

<< Be sure to get the official pass -- it's inexpensive and comes with a map --
and they DO check you along the path to be sure you have it.....


interesting -- I did this some time back and never heard of this -- is it a new
thing to harvest tourist dollars or did I just not know about it and err? >>

Steltzjr

<< Be sure to get the official pass -- it's inexpensive and comes with a map --
and they DO check you along the path to be sure you have it.....


interesting -- I did this some time back and never heard of this -- is it a new
thing to harvest tourist dollars or did I just not know about it and err?
>>

Yes, can someone enlighten us? I did the walk 5 years ago and never heard of a
"pass". No one asked me about it or checked anything.
At the time I was 70. The entire walk could be done in a day but I broke it
into two days just so I could spend more time with my wife who did not walk it
and more time looking at the villages.

Watcher

jenn <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > >
    > > Be sure to get the official pass -- it's inexpensive and comes with a
    > > map -- and they DO check you along the path to be sure you have
    > > it.....
    >
    >
    > interesting -- I did this some time back and never heard of this -- is
    > it a new thing to harvest tourist dollars or did I just not know about
    > it and err?

Um... it's been in effect for about 4 years, I think. The money goes
for upkeep of the trail and general maintenance of the area, so it's a
cause worth supporting. I bought mine at the train station in
Vernazza. There was a little guardhouse on the trail coming into
Corniglia where they checked for passes. This was at a slow time --
very early morning in April -- but I'm told they also check for passes
out on the trail itself during busier times.