We left Riomaggiore heading north towards Manarola on the section of the trail called the Via dell’Amore, the ‘Way of Love’.

The logo for the famous 'Lovers Lane'.

Looking back at the pathway from Riomaggiore to the beginning of the Via.

Over the entrance gate to the Via is a heart emblem with many small locks attached. The locks apparently symbolize the unbreakable bond between lovers.

The rocks seem to flow down to the sea.

Oh, young lovers......

A logo bench with clumps of locks on the railing behind!

Riomaggiore

We arrived in Vernazza in the afternoon and relaxed a little before tackling the last section of the coast route. Then we caught the train to the southernmost town- Riomaggiore, to start the hike north back to Vernazza eventually. The town of Riomaggiore was so interesting in itself, I have to devote a post to it.

We were greeted at the train station with murals dedicated to the pioneers of the communities.

Mosaics decorate the tunnel from the train station to the town center.

Murals also decorated a wall facing a small public plaza in Riomaggiore.

From the same square we could look left, down to the port.

The narrow main street of the village led up, up ,up.

Every day is laundry day! Make good use of the Mediterranean sunshine!

This is a typical small storefront in the small villages of the Cinque Terre, the products inside are sure to please. The fresh produce, the cured meats, the gelato, the wines, were all superb!

Today was a long day filled with arduous stair climbing, hot sticky weather and breathtaking, magnificent, fabulous views! We determined to hike the remaining portions of the Coast Route, known as “sentiero azzurro” (“blue path”) to the other villages. It was such a long day it will have to be recounted in several posts! Here is a map to give you an idea of the area. The longest sections of the coast route are from Monterosso to Vernazza, and Vernazza to Corniglia (which we completed last night).

Monterosso to Vernazza

We started out the morning slow, looking for breakfast in town. We ended up getting foccacia bread, cheese, sausage, yogurt and orange juice from the small grocery and eating on our veranda. We then caught the train to Monterosso, the northernmost village, to hike back to Vernazza.

Monterosso has the biggest beach and it looked so inviting, but we had some hiking to do first!

As we started our southward trek we came upon a local artist.

She was capturing the vibrant colors of the water and beach.

A vase as public art maybe?

Around the next corner was a relic of WWII. We wondered if it saw use.

The blue, blue Mediterranean

Panorama of the 2nd beach of Monterosso.

The vineyards on the terraces above town.

The rock walls of the terraces, some laid with only sand as mortar!

The stairs, and there were lots of them!

Looking back at Monterosso.

Monterosso farther away to the north.

Looking south towards Vernazza. The path is getting crowded with tourists from all over the world!

Approaching Vernazza!

Vernazza! Notice the ferry to the right, off loading passengers from the bow.

Today our train trip took us out of France, through Monaco- Monte Carlo (didn’t see anything but the train station) and into Italy along the Mediterranean coast. We did see lots of huge yachts out in the water though. Our destination is Vernazza, the 2nd town of the Cinque Terre, translated as ‘five lands’, referring to the 5 villages along an 18 km stretch of the rugged Mediterranean coast in northern Italy.

Waiting for the next train, what station are we in now?

The 2nd set of stairs to our room, but there are stairs everywhere, the town is built into a cliffside! Our room is the veranda above the shutters.

Our room!

The doors to the veranda.

Our cute but tiny veranda, a great spot to relax in the evening and have a continental breakfast in the morning!

We unpacked then went out to explore the surroundings.

The colorful main square fronting the small bay and beach.

The tiny port of Vernazza.

Fishing boats in the bay.

Starting up the hill on the path southward. Our room is somewhere in the maze below!

Farther up you can see the curved breakwater forming the bay.

We decided to see how far we could walk this evening towards the 3rd town of Corniglia.

Looking south, the path is somewhere among the steep terraces.

Looking back north you can make out the path we just came up on.

Our destination - Corniglia (pronounced Corneeleeah).

The sun was setting as we entered the village.

After almost 2 hours of walking we made it to Corniglia! This village is perched high on the cliffs while the train station serving it is down near the water. We were able to catch the last commuter bus to avoid the long walk down, and were lucky to immediately catch the train back to Vernazza. In 5 minutes we were back in Vernazza and looking for a pizza dinner!

We had a nice breakfast of sandwiches in our room then went out for a walk to get a cafe au lait and walk around town a little more. We returned to the hotel for another coffee and then headed to the train station for our trip to Nice. In Nice we found another inexpensive little hotel near the train station thanks to the very helpful ladies at the information center just outside the train station. After stowing our gear we took a walk to the Promenade des Anglais and got caught in a rainstorm. We waited it out under a grocery store canopy and continued our exploration of the city, climbing the 200+ stairs up the hill overlooking the seaside, old Nice and the Port to the Parc du Chateau, site of castles and fortresses, all demolished now to make way for a grassy tranquil park with wonderful panoramic views of the city and sea. The weather was not conducive to stunning pictures tho. For lots of pictures on nicer days click HERE.