Italy Trip - Day 34 - Cinque Terre

We were nearing the end of our time at the Lucca farmhouse, and we needed to choose our last day trips. Buds and I had been to Cinque Terre on both our trips to Italy.

On our first trip, back in the mid-’90’s, Rick Steves had been recommending Cinque Terre to travelers in his books, but it was still relatively unknown. There were few other tourists, and when you got off the train there would be large-busted Italian women in dresses, wearing aprons, asking if you needed a place to stay.

Times have changed…

We left Lucca early, and drove to La Spezia to catch the train into Cinque Terre.

We toyed with the idea of driving and parking at one of the five towns (Cinque Terre is Italian for “Five Lands.”) As you can see from the map, the driving would be twisty, and you’d still have a decent hike to get into any of the towns.

As seasoned train travelers by this point, we relaxed and enjoyed the trip.

We had plans to trek around in a couple different towns, then hike The Lovers’ Walk between two towns.

After being dropped off in the tunnel :

We wandered down to find some gelato:

Then back on the train to Vernazza for some time down by the water, climbing on the rocks.

By this point in the day, we were hungry, so chose a seafood restaurant to have some lunch, then from there we’d get directions to head off on our hike.

Instead, we learned that the Lovers’ Walk was closed due to mudslides, so we relaxed, visited with the young, white, American woman seated at the table next to us who was traveling on her own through Italy, on her way to meet friends in Venice, then headed back up to jumble up with the crowds to get on a train out of town.

We were able to catch a train, and ended up back at Lucca, ready to enjoy the remainder of our evening at “home.”

I’m glad we spent the day in Cinque Terre, and that the children had the chance to experience it, but I won’t be in a rush to return.