My legs felt well worked out after climbing hundreds of steps the prior day, but I was still excited for today’s two hikes.

The first hike was from our “home town” of Riomaggiore to Manarola. This would be arguably the most difficult hike because it was basically up, up, up, up, down, down, down, down. No flat sections to speak of. I will admit that my thighs felt the up, up, up, up, but they agreed to keep going.

Here’s the info about the trail from a Cinque Terre trail website:

Hiking trail Riomaggiore – Manarola – (Via Beccara)
Difficulty: difficult
Length: 1.8 km
Duration: 1h (Note that this lists one hour, but the map lists 36 minutes. One hour was correct.)
Hiking fee: no
This trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore is an alternative to Via dell’Amore (which is currently closed) and can be done in either direction. (I went from Riomaggiore to Manarola.)
The Cinque Terre Card is not required for this trail. Very good physical condition is required!
The villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola are very close to one another but have a very steep mountain separating them. Half an hour of challenging climb due to the number of steep stairs up over the ridge, through a metal gate as you pass across the high point then drop through terraced small-plot grape fields into a beautiful town for refreshments. The trail offers panoramic sea views.

This was a fun hike, particularly because it was difficult. The views weren’t quite as good as some of those from the other hikes, but no view is a bad view in Cinque Terre!

The plan was for Michael to take the train to Manarola and meet me there. We would then take the train together to Corniglia, where we would tour the town a bit before I left for my final hike of the trip: from Corniglia to Manarola (yep, back to Manarola because it looked like a really nice hike!).

This was when I had my first good laugh of the day. Michael had texted me that he was “on the train,” so I expected him to arrive in no more than five minutes. But a train came and went and no Michael. That seemed weird, but I kept waiting.

One of us eventually texted the other, at which time I learned that he’d taken the train to Corniglia, not Manarola. 🙂 🙂 No biggy. I just took the next train to Corniglia.

Neither one of us wanted to climb the 383 steps to Corniglia, so we took the little shuttle bus this time. The cost was covered by our Tren card. We walked around Corniglia a bit (this was Michael’s first time there). It was too early to eat lunch, so it wasn’t long before I was ready to take my final hike of the trip and meet Michael in Manarola for lunch.

This was possibly my favorite hike in terms of the scenery and variety. To describe this hike, I would say up, up, up, flat, flat, flat, down, down, down. My thighs were quite tired by now, so when I got to the flat part I am quite certain I heard them singing songs of thanks and praise.

As per usual, here is the description and a map of the hike:

Hiking trail Manarola – Corniglia (via Volastra)
Difficulty: average/difficult
Length: 5.4 km
Duration: 2.5h (This is correct, the times listed on the map are not. I don’t know where they get those times.)
Hiking fee: no
The Cinque Terre Card is not required for this trail. The hike can be done in either direction but it is easier to start in Corniglia, as the village is located one hundred meters (330 ft.) above the sea level. The first part of the hiking trail has a very steep climb. The walk will lead you through ancient terraces that decline to the sea, where vines and olives grow thanks to heroic wine makers who produce limited quantities of quality grapes. The vineyard hike is moderately easy and it gives you wonderful views of the Mediterranean and the villages.

The map shows two options. I truly don’t know which one I took. I just followed the signs.

We fully enjoyed our short but active visit to Cinque Terre. I accumulated over 27,000 steps in two days. It was wonderful!