We had thought we might visit the two remaining Cinque Terre villages by boat but rough seas cancelled the ferry. The day was still bright and sunny so we set off undeterred … by train!
Our first stop was Manarola, where to save our legs, we took the bus up the hill to the Santuario Di Nostra Signora della Salute in the small hamlet of Volastra.
We took the path towards Corniglia for a short way to get a view of the terraced vineyards where grapes for both sweet and dry white wines are grown.
We also saw Corniglia in the distance …
… and Manarola below.
Returning to the church, we began the descent and are really pleased we hadn’t done this walk both ways as what seemed to be an never ending flight of steps descended between the olive trees …
… and between the terraces of vines.
We caught glimpses of Manarola as the path zig zagged …
… then finally reached the main viewpoint at the bottom …
… and returned to the station.
We caught the train onwards to Riomaggiore, the last of the five villages, and the largest. We took a few snaps but it didn’t have quite the charm of the other villages and we didn’t linger.
We had hoped the boats might have started running again so we could get a view of the Cinque Terre from the sea, but it wasn’t to be and we returned by train.
Our last night here, so we had an aperol in the last of the sunshine then more pansotti for dinner in the taverna round the corner. Over dinner we agreed we had picked the nicest village to stay in and that of the others, Manorla was the prettiest. As for Ivo’s Camere, we struck gold here with such a central location, a lovely comfy room complete with lashings of hot water and a kettle to make tea … and those 67 steps have certainly kept us fit!
Tomorrow we take the train further west!
Off Travelling Together 