Cinque Terre for lovers
Italy loves lovers.
Nowhere more so than on the Via Dell'Amore, lovers' walk, the narrow trail carved out of the twisted grey rock hillside high above the sea on the famed Cinque Terre, or five lands.
Celebrated by poets and artists, this rugged coast in the Liguria region on Italy's west coast is noted for its beauty - and its food and wine. Just the place for lovers.
Cinque Terre comprises five villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Quaint and medieval, they perch impossibly on the rocky coastline and are a summer magnet for tourists.
Each village has its own unique character, their relative isolation from vehicular traffic until the 1960s having preserved their charm.
The region boasts some of the best walking trails in the world. You can walk a myriad of paths - one easy, others hard - between the villages or take a frequent local train, stopping off at each village.
Between April and September you can take a ferry between villages. But be warned: at the height of the tourist season you'll be joined by thousands of other gawking tourists who come to walk - or hike - the UNESCO World Heritage listed Cinque Terre National Park.
You need to buy a Cinque Terre Card to walk the main trails. It costs 35 Euros ($47.25) for seven days and also entitles you to unlimited travel on the local train.
The easy coastal walk, Sentiero Azzurro (No.2), the light blue trail, from Riomaggiore to Monterosso, is 9km long and can be walked comfortably in five hours without stops.
More serious walkers will join the hikers, many equipped with walking poles, who tackle some challenging hiking trails through vineyards and scented pine forests.
These trails head higher up the hillside and, because they are more difficult, tend to be less crowded. (You can pick the serious hikers in leather shorts and sturdy boots and carrying maps and day packs.)
It has taken since the 12th century to build the terraced towns which cling precariously to the rockface and step down to the aquamarine sea.
But most surprising are the vineyards which have been carved into terraces in the rocky hillsides. The terraces are supported by drystone walls of limestone blocks - eight million cubic metres of it.
Total length of the walls has been compared with the Great Wall of China.
Imagine the stonemasons carrying the heavy stones on their shoulders. The walls hold back the soil which grows grapes, olives and citrus fruit.
In summer the brilliant green of the vineyards has as its backdrop the light brown and grey of the walls. The green gives way to orange and brown in autumn.
Little rack railways enable workers to reach vineyards on the steeper terraces. Overhead cables are strung out to carry the vines.
But back to the lovers' walk. It links Riomaggiore with Manarola. It's a mere 20-minute stroll along a well-made and fenced walk above the sea.
Lovers have made it their own, writing their names on rocks and surrounding trees. Nearby, too, is a concrete throne in the shape of a male and female locked in a kiss.
A section of fence is loaded with padlocks left by lovers who have thrown away the keys to symbolise a love that will endure. Ahhhhh.
Start your walk or train ride at Riomaggiore. You can cover the five villages in a day but without spending time in each village. Better to allow several days and start your daily sightseeing in a different the village. (My favourite villages are Manarola and Vernazza.)
The track is often cut by landslides - especially after rain. Today there has been a slip and we're limited to the first section, the Lovers' Walk. Well, why not.
We'll have to take the train between other villages and leave the rest of the walk for another day. We arrive at Manarola, a town filled, it seems, with fishing boats.
They crowd the narrow main street above the harbour. But the boats look like fixtures and it is hard to say when they last went out fishing.
Around us are centuries-old buildings painted in bright pastel colours. Shops carry a wide range of souvenirs and bars and cafes do a lively trade in the summer heat.
The stretch from Manarola to Corniglia is the easiest walk, although the main trail into Corniglia finishes with a climb of 368 steps. In Corniglia we found a tiny, hole-in-the-wall Pan & Vin cafe where owner Basso Stefano served us some fabulous pesto. A specialty of the region, it is made with basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and pecorino cheese. So good, we came back for second helpings.
We washed it down with another local favourite, sciacchetra wine, a sweet raisin dessert wine, which Basso said had been made by his brother. You can sample them in any number of cafes, wine bars and shops.
The trail from Corniglia to Vernazza is steep in certain places. It starts off as a dirt trail in an olive grove above the town. It becomes an old, walled and worn trail of stone and hard-packed soil. It crosses streams and ancient cultivated terraces.
It climbs and we get a bit sweaty in places. This is serious exercise. But we are rewarded with some great views of both Corniglia and Manarola.
An important harbour - the only proper harbour in the Cinque Terre - in the Middle Ages, Vernazza rises up a valley to a rocky outcrop. Its turreted fort protects an inner marina.
A maze of narrow and winding streets cut canyons through the weatherbeaten orange facades of houses to end up in the main street. Vernazza is a lively and boisterous village - especially at night. We sit at a table under an umbrella in the large public space, drink a cold beer, enjoy a pizza and people-watch.
The trail from Vernazza to Monterosso is by far the steepest. It winds through olive orchards and vineyards and is rough in places but offers the best view of the bay and spectacular approaches to Monterosso and Vernazza.
All the villages have small hotels and B&B accommodation. Even in the height of the season you can usually find accommodation. But beware it could involve trailing your luggage up or down steep steps, uneven stone streets and passageways.
Better to stay in Monterosso, a small beach resort but the largest of the five villages, or the larger township of La Spezia and ride the train to the villages each day.
Anchovies of Monterosso are also a local specialty with special protected status with the European Union. Make sure you taste them.
IF YOU GO
Europe has an excellent train system. You can reach the Cinque Terre by fast express trains from major European centres to Genoa and La Spezia with local train connections to the Cinque Terre villages.
Best to stay in bigger centres such as La Spezia but the largest of the five villages, Monterosso al Mare is best for local accommodation.
A passenger ferry service also operates from Genoa's Old Harbour and from La Spezia between April and September.
The writer was a guest of Cathay Pacific.
