Most of the day on the train from Venice to Levanto...weary, carrying increasingly heavy backpacks ...can't find our Airbnb for almost two hours ... ask many people but street numbers here are all random. When we eventually find it, it's only a 10-minute walk from the train station.
One wrong turn!! 😞
Levanto is not one of the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre, but it is a very brief train ride south to reach Montorosso, the northernmost town of the five. We like it here. Its quieter has a bigger, calmer bay and beach than the other towns. If we had more time here we could walk or bicycle north to a couple of other towns within 10 km.
Several travel writers suggest that you only need to see either the Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terra but not both as they are very similar, but we didn't find that to be so and am glad we did both.
The coastline, 5 towns and surrounding hillsides are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The towns can only be reached by paths, trains or boats. Monterossa and Vernazza came into being in the 11th century as fishing villages. The other towns in the 16th century as part of military defence.
Our first hike is from Levanto to Monterosso, taking close to 3 hours. Hikes here always involve many old stone steps up, then down again as you approach another town:
After the hike we enjoy delicious spaghetti seafood on a seaside patio in Montorosso, explore the town and take the train home.
This is looking down into some one's country estate garden:
Walked past a yard with many pieces of funky art, placed for hikers to enjoy:
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A cat curled up, sound asleep on a stump:
This fellow ran out to get pats & scratches from all passersby and was rather annoyed when you had to move on:
Home construction via helicopter to bring in supplies:
Ruins high up on the trail:
Very large bougainvillea and mostly still in bloom:
We bought a beach blanket from the Iranian fellow selling these. It will be handy this winter in Mexico:
Towns and beaches are tucked into mountainsides. Jumping off straight above us, some tight maneuvers later and a perfect landing on the small beach:
Wikipedia tells me that Society Mortis like this is an association of the Catholic church. The purpose is to pray for souls in purgatory to assist them to reach heaven:
Part of the path heading up:
Levanto is a nice town to explore in the evening, especially the beach promenade in the moonlight.
The next day we take the train to the southernmost town (Riomaggiore), look around ... take the train up to the next town (Manarola), then to Corniglia, where we hike to Vernazza.
Looking high above us to terraced vineyards. We stand on a bridge lined with poster-size photos of weathered-looking vineyard workers carrying heavy looking baskets laden with grapes on their backs:
This displays our longitude & latitude:
Looking back on one of the towns:
Along the path:
Almost harvest time for these olives:
Two trails on the Cinque Terra were closed, we hiked two and ran out of time to hike the third coastal trail.
Our next stop is Varenna on Lake Como.
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