The Cinqueterre - from Vernazza to Riomaggiore

The next day we woke up early and hiked the rest of the Cinqueterre villages.

But first we had our breakfast at the pasticceria downstairs from our apartment, which has hands down some of the best pastries we've ever tasted. It's called the Pirata Caffé and is managed by two incredibly nice (twin) brothers called Giuliano and Massimo. The sicilian pastries are their specialty but they also serve lunch and dinner so it's worth stopping by at any time of the day.







Starting from Vernazza but now going on the opposite direction we took the path towards Corniglia. The distance is about 3.25 km and it took us a bit more than one hour.





I'm really glad we hiked from Vernazza to Corniglia and not the other way around. You see, this means we had to go down the 300 or so steps that go from the train station to the village and not the way up.







From Corniglia to Manarola the path is right by the sea (2.8 km), quite easy and takes about an hour to complete.



And on the last part, from Manarola to Riomaggiore the path is actually a paved one. It's called Via dell'amore and takes about 15 to 20 minutes (1 km)









Arriving in Riomaggiore, it was time for a break and some lunch





and also some gelato, while waiting for the boat



Finally back in Vernazza again, just in time to watch another sunset ... one of those truly magical ones













More photos here