Cinque Terre + Portofino

Posted on: August 25, 2009 at 7:36PM

Our recommendation is to not hike between all 5 towns. The hike was much more rigorous than guide books and posts on this site indicated. We were so exhausted by the time we reached the third town that we did not enjoy the day. I also have a mild fear of heights and I was not prepared for how high, narrow and difficult the trails from Monterossa were. Also after we managed to get to each town, we found that the towns are hilly and it was difficult to get to any other kind of transportation. We recommend the easy walk/hike from Riomaggiore to the closest towns, then take the train from there to each town ending in Monterossa. If you still have energy after you have explored the 5 towns, then hike up to the area above Monterossa. We could see beautiful views from there and the view did not change that much as we hiked for hours to the next towns. In other words, we would have enjoyed some combination of trains and hiking much more than hiking all day. If you do decide to hike the whole way, be sure to have good hiking boots and preferably walking poles. report a problem