Walks · Vernazza · Italy
The trail from Vernazza to Monterosso
three and a half kilometres of the Sentiero Verde Azzurro between terraced vineyards and sheer drops to the sea
The trail leaves Vernazza from the little harbour and climbs at once, through lanes and stone steps, up to the vineyard terraces above the village. After about half an hour you reach the viewpoint where the whole village appears, wedged between sea and rock. Then it is a constant up and down of mule tracks, protected sections above the drop and a few wooded stretches, until the long stairway that descends into Monterosso. The national park grades it EE, for experienced hikers: this is not a seafront stroll.
Getting there
- The motorhome stays at the ATCMP area in La Spezia: inside the Cinque Terre the roads are narrow and unrestricted parking is forbidden or heavily limited
- You reach Vernazza by train, and the trail starts inside the village, above the harbour
- From Monterosso you return by train, on the same Levanto to La Spezia line
- On some busy days between April and June the stretch is one way, from Monterosso towards Vernazza between 9am and 2pm: the park publishes the dates
Practical information
Duration 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours of walking; the park gives 2 hours from Vernazza to Monterosso and 2 hours 15 minutes the other way round
Price you get through only with a Cinque Terre Card
Suitable for hikers in good shape; the park grades it EE, for experienced hikers, and allows access only with proper footwear
Booking the trail itself needs no booking, the Cinque Terre Card does: online at card.parconazionale5terre.it or at the park welcome centres
Contacts
Where it is
Vernazza · Liguria
Notes
- The Cinque Terre Card comes in two versions: the Trekking one covers the paying trails and the park buses, the Treno one adds second class regional trains between Levanto and La Spezia
- Hiking shoes or trainers with a proper tread, no flip-flops
- There is nowhere to buy anything along the trail: bring your own water
- This stretch was closed for a long time and then reopened: check the state of the day on the park website before setting off
- The viewpoint over Vernazza comes about half an hour in, and it is the most photographed spot on the stretch
- You walk between terraced vineyards, the cian, and Mediterranean scrub of holm oak, strawberry tree, heather and broom, with a humpback bridge halfway along
- In Vernazza, before you set off: Piazza Marconi facing the harbour, the church of Santa Margherita d'Antiochia, the Doria castle and the Belforte bastion
- Monterosso is the only one of the Cinque Terre with a wide sandy beach: the new part is Fegina, with the Giant sculpture, the old one a maze of carrugi beyond the tunnel
- Monterosso was Eugenio Montale's village, where he spent his summers
