If you love to hike and are visiting the Cinque Terre, then you should definitely check out the hiking trails in this region. Hiking in the Cinque Terre is one of the best ways to explore these five towns and their surrounding hills. You will be greeted with views of verdant vineyards, colorful villages and the calm blue sea on these hikes. This post is a complete guide to hiking in the Cinque Terre and covers everything you need to know!
Table of Contents
Introduction to Hiking in Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre has over 110 kilometers of trails, that takes you through hilly cliff side paths and vineyards with sweeping views of the sea. Hiking is one of the best ways to explore this region and its beauty. There are many different hiking paths in Cinque Terre. This next section will go over these in detail.
Main Coastal Trail
The main coastal trail is called the Blue Trail or Sentiero Azzurro in Italian. The Blue Trail stretches from Monterosso to Riomaggiore. However, not all sections of the Blue Trail are currently open due to landslides. Out of all the hiking trails in the Cinque Terre, the Blue Trail is the most popular and generally considered easier than the rest. Also note that there is a cost involved with hiking this trail. I cover this in depth later.
Monterosso to Vernazza
This section of the trail offers beautiful views of the sea as well as panoramic view points of Vernazza.
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Length: 3.5 km
- Duration: 2 hours (I did it in much less)
- Cost: Need to pay (see Permits and Costs section below)
Vernazza to Corniglia
This is a very popular route as it cuts through vineyards and verdant foothills.
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Length: 3.5 km
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Cost: Need to pay (see Permits and Costs section below)
Riomaggiore to Manarola (Via dell’Amore)
This route was closed for years due to landslides but opened in the Summer of 2024. You may hear this trail referred to as Via dell’Amore.
- Difficulty: Easy (no steps or steep sections. Only flat ground)
- Length: 1 km
- Duration: 20-30 minutes
- Cost: Need to pay (see below)
- Reservation: yes (see below)
Via dell’Amore Costs and Reservations
You need a Cinque Terre Treno MS Card or a Cinque Terre Trekking Card (see Permits and Costs section below) to walk this path and also need to pay a 10 euro supplement on top of this. If you are staying in Riomaggiore or Manarola and have a guest card then the cost comes down to 8 euros but you still need one of the Cinque Terre cards as well.
You do need to book a time slot in advance. You can do this in-person in Riomaggiore or online. I recommend doing it online to skip the lines. HERE is the site to do it online.
From April 1 to October 31 the path is open from 8.00am to 9.30pm while the hours reduce to 9.30am to 5pm from November 1 to March 31.
Upper Trail
There is an upper trail that runs from Riomaggiore to Corniglia that offe scenic views but are a lot more challenging than the Blue Trail. These paths cut through vineyards and have uninterrupted views of the sea from the higher up vantage point.
Manarola – Riomaggiore via Beccara
This trail runs both directions.
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Length: 1.8 km
- Duration: 1 hours
- Cost: free (no card needed)
- Alternative: Via dell’Amore
Corniglia – Manarola via Volastra
This trail also runs both directions but is said to be easier to start from Corniglia. If you start from Manarola, the first part of the hiking trail is very steep but you can cut it out by taking the shuttle bus from Manarola to Volastra.
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Length: 5.4 km
- Duration: 2.5 hours
- Cost: free (no card needed)
- Alternative: The easier path is closed at the moment due to a landslide but is a 2.2 km 1-1.5 hour trail.
How Many Days
If you don’t spend time exploring any of the villages, you can easily hike the entire Blue Trail in a day. However, the beauty of this hike in my opinion is that you get to stop in each village, explore it, have some gelato or a seafood cone and enjoy sitting and people watching before moving on to the next hike.
I think you need at least 2 days to hike the sections that are currently open on the Blue Trail so that you have enough time to explore the villages as well. If you like to go slow, I would even do 3 days.
Which Direction to Hike
Vernazza – Monterosso
I hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza and it was not easy, especially as there are a lot of steps at the start. My recommendation would be to hike from Vernazza to Monterosso instead.
Corniglia – Vernazza
While you can hike in either direction, some say it is easier to hike from Corniglia to Vernazza, while others say the other way is better. One thing to note if you start from Corniglia is that you have to first climb around 300 wide steps from the train station to the village as the village is not at sea level unlike the other 4.
Riomaggiore – Manarola
You can only hike in one direction from Riomaggiore to Manarola on the Via dell’Amore.
When to Hike
The trails are open year round unless hiking conditions are bad (see section below). When it comes to time of day, try to hike early morning when it is not as hot and the crowds are less. You are rather exposed on the trail, so hiking mid day will be very hot.
Early evening is also not a bad time to hike as the lighting will be good but I still recommend early morning as much as possible.
Permits and Costs for Hiking in the Cinque Terre
You need to buy a trekking card in order to hike the Blue Trail. You have two options here as I have listed below. Note that there are inspection posts that will check to see if you have the proper pass to hike the trails.
Cinque Terre Treno MS Card
This card gives you access to all the paid hiking trails between Monterosso and Corniglia as well as unlimited train travel on the Levanto – Cinque Terre – La Spezia line, along with the buses that connect the villages.
The price of the card depends on the time of year and how many days you are buying the card for. The time of year is categorized into low, medium and peak season. See below for the classification descriptions.
- Low season – Weekdays in March, April, May and October
- Medium season – June, September and some weekends
- Peak season – July and August, weekends and holidays
The cost for 1 adult for 1 day for the low season is 19.50 euros while it goes up to 32.50 euros for the high season. If you are looking to buy the card for two (consecutive) days, then it goes up to 34 euros for low season and 59 euros for high season. You may have to do the math to see if it is worth it for you. It made a lot of sense for me to buy the card and I recommend it if you are also going to travel a lot between the villages via train. Train tickets between 2 villages can go up to 8 euros if you buy the day of and it can start to add up after a while.
If you are planning on visiting from November 4th to March 14th, then the trails are free and the Tren card goes down to 14.80 euros for 1 day and 26.50 for 2 days. Since the hiking trails are free, this is essentially the cost of unlimited train travel between the villages. One thing to note is that you still do have to pay to walk the Via dell’Amore even during this time.
TIP – You should take a picture of the card as soon as you purchase it in case you lose it.
Cinque Terre Trekking Card
The Cinque Terre Trekking Card gives you access to just the hiking trails from Monterosso to Corniglia. The prices differ based on if it’s a peak day and number of days you need it foe. It goes from 7.50 euros for 1 day off peak to 15 euros for peak. The 2 (consecutive) day pass costs 14.50 euros for off peak and 29 euros for peak.
Peak days are March 30 and 31, April 1st, from April 25 to April 28, May 1st, May 31, June 1st and 2nd, from August 14 to August 18 and from November 1st to November 3rd.
Via dell’Amore
I cover how to get tickets for Via dell’Amore above. One thing to note is that you need either card in order to purchase a ticket for Via dell’Amore.
How to Purchase the Cards
During peak season, I highly recommend that you purchase the passes ahead of time. You can buy both cards HERE. If you are looking to buy it in-person, then you can do so at the train stations at each villages plus Levanto and La Spezia.
Hiking Conditions & Fitness for the Cinque Terre Trails
The trails close if there has been rain and it is wet. The trails are narrow, rocky and rugged at some places so you will need to be careful. You also need to stop and make way for people coming in the opposite direction on narrow parts of the trail.
If you are fit or an avid hiker, you should not have any issues hiking the Cinque Terre trails. I saw many people struggle on the trail. This was due to two factors, either they were not wearing the proper footwear or they were just not prepared to hike hilly and rugged terrain. There were traffic jams on the trail at one point because people were struggling and holding up everyone. My recommendation is to watch a few videos on YouTube or TikTok so you can see what level of fitness is required to hike. It’s ok to go slow, but please move aside for people who are able to move faster.
Resources
THIS is the best website to check to see which trails are open and which are closed. They update it very regularly so check before you go!
You will also see announcements about trail closures just before the hiking paths and in some train stations. Remember that the trails are closed for your own safety as frustrating it is to not be able to hike.
What to Bring
- Sturdy shoes – You definitely need good sturdy hiking shoes to hike the Cinque Terre. Trust me on this! If you are a regular reader, you know that I am an avid hiker and have done some difficult hikes around the world!
- Small day pack
- Water
- Snacks
- Hiking poles – this is completely optional and you may not need them at all. I like to bring mine on hikes just in case because I am trying to save my knees for some very challenging bucket list hikes
- Sunscreen
- Hat or cap
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