One of the attractions of this coast is hiking from village to village on trails that afford stupendous views and call for considerable stamina (bring good shoes/boots, hat, and lots of water). We'd somehow assumed that these fantastic, dramatic, and rugged trails were maintained. After all, they're a major international (UNESCO) tourist attraction. The views are awesome. We were wrong. This had some truly uncomfortable stretches of rough, sharp rocks and ragged washouts. We weren't expecting cafes along the trail, but we'd expected a trail.
After taking a train to Monterroso the day before and crashing on the beach, we were ready to get some serious exercise. Access to the high trails is well marked and there are some stretches that are lower and closer to the sea, but much is strung like high wires across the precipitous, but terraced, mountains that dive into the water below. So we headed out to see how far we'd get, hoping it would be all of the three villages to our south, as well as a walk back on the highline.
The first part was cake—a low path that's still mostly well above the sea with plenty of elevation changes, but well-trodden. It was beautiful and pretty easy. Mellow. We stopped in cafes in each village just to soak in the place. Well, also for coffee. The weather was perfect.
By the time we'd made it to the south end, we knew we wouldn't tackle the high trail back that day. After exploring Riomaggiore, we caught a train back to Vernazza where we showered and crashed for a couple of hours before the traditional late dinner.
