Cinque Terre & Liguria: stage overview
For the long-distance hike on the Ligurian coast, I used the official "Sentiero Liguria" as a guide and selected the most beautiful stages around the "Cinque Terre". I also wanted to include the Portofino peninsula (stage 1) in the long-distance hike. The result is a very varied long-distance hike that increases day by day. The gap between stages 1 and 2 is bridged with a short train ride. This leaves out the heavily built-up coast between Rapallo and Sestri Levante.
| Stage | Route | Ascent / descent | Duration | Accommodation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Arrive | Camogli | |||
| Stage 1 | 14,6km | 1050m / 1050m | 07h30PM | Camogli or Sestri Levante |
| Stage 2 | 15,7km | 840m / 840m | 06h30PM | moneglia |
| Stage 3 | 16,9km | 1000m / 1000m | 07h30PM | bonassola |
| Stage 4 | 11km | 600m / 600m | 05h00PM | Monterosso al Mare |
| Stage 5 | 14,1km | 850m / 850m | 07h15PM | Riomaggiore |
| Stage 6 | 13,1km | 700m / 700m | 06h30PM | Porto Venere |
| Total | 85,4km | 5.040m / 5.040m | 40h15PM |
31 May 2024
Dear Frank,
Happy, grateful and fulfilled, we sit in the car heading home. Your brilliant site inspired us and guided us precisely, making this excellent hike possible. The valuable tips in particular made our planning easier and helped a lot! We found tickets for bus, train and Cinque Terre Card so quickly, we really appreciated that!
Your tour guides are absolutely great! Yesterday the last stage was another spectacular highlight!
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your work and providing the information!
Greetings from the Allgäu
June 1, 2024
Hello Michaela,
great, I'm really happy about the feedback! In fact, wherever the landscape allows, I try to plan the stages so that there is a little highlight at the end. I don't always succeed, but I'm very happy when I can find such a good, well-rounded end to my hike.
Best wishes from Hamburg!
Frank
August 12, 2024
Hi Frank
Thanks for the great directions. I'm thinking about doing this hike at the end of September. Is the path partially exposed or does it have exposed areas? If so, are they well secured?
LG and thank you
Kathy
August 27, 2024
Hello Kathy,
I hope my answer is not too late:
On stage 1 there are some places between waypoints 5 and 7 where you should not be afraid of heights (see report by Martina at https://www.wanderndeluxe.de/cinque-terre-ligurien-erfahrungsberichte-und-fragen/#comment-13753). However, this place can be circumvented by taking the upper path instead of descending towards the Abbey of San Fruttuoso from waypoint 5.
On stage 5 there are other places, like the one in the following picture: without railings on the steep slope - but not dangerous, as you are "only" walking on a vineyard wall and cannot really fall.
There is also a potentially critical point on stage 6 as far as vertigo is concerned:
These are the points that come to mind right now. I hope this helps you!
Many sizes
Frank
16 October 2024
At the end of September I also went to the Ligurian coast along your route, and again, thank you very much for the elaboration.
My experience in bullet points:
- a highly recommended tour, I didn't regret having hiked it. Personally, I think the Amalfi Coast is a bit more beautiful, but that's a matter of personal taste.
Great:
– There are always small promontories or “peninsulas” from which you can let your gaze wander in both directions of the coast.
– Basically, the paths on site are pretty well marked, it takes a bit of getting used to, red-white or white-red, red-white-red and sometimes minimalistic, but functional.
– Often benches for resting
– Beautiful terrain
– rail connection
Rather not so nice:
– Some parts of the path often lead through coppice or bushes, so that the view to the side becomes monotonous. But there are regularly, as described above, beautiful spots to stop and take a break.
– Mass tourism (Portofino and Cinque Terre, to be honest we were at the latter even in the best weather on Sunday)
General information:
– the Italian railway is as the DB should be, punctual, cheap, digital & analogue, and also very practical for our stages 3-5 as well as arrival & departure.
– We were travelling quite spontaneously and didn't have much time to book hotels. So we moved into our headquarters in Moneglia after stage 2 and made stages 3-5 into day stages. Reason: Hotel Mondial in Moneglia is close to the train station, costs 90€ and not 200€ - 600€ ;-)
– I don’t know what it was like at the beginning of the summer, but the rain events in Italy have caused many of the steeper climbs and descents to be extremely washed out.
In some places, in shallower areas, you could see large areas of washed-up sand, hence my assumption that the situation is fresh.
Personally, I like more robust routes and have been carrying my poles since Amalfi. It wasn't a problem for me. But I can imagine that there are people who would have problems here or would at least like to be prepared for it. For example, after Riva Trigorso after the climb to "Nua Natua" & between Moneglia and Deiva Marina.
– In Portofino we actually wanted to take the boat to Rapallo, but unfortunately this was cancelled at short notice. We didn't feel like waiting for the minibus with 150 other people and walked to the train station in Santa Margherita. But basically: the boat can be a nice addition.
– Because of the crowds, we headed into the mountains behind Vernazza in the Cinque Terre, to San Bernadino and above Corniglia.
– The last stage is really great!
All in all, great tour, thank you. To those who still have it ahead of them: Have fun hiking:
Regards
Bruno