Cinque Terre - Vernazza

From Manarola, we took the train to Vernazza, experiencing the crush of crowds from the cruise ships both on the train and on the narrow streets of the village, which was probably one of the larger villages in Cinque Terre. Vernazza, with settlement dating back to the beginning of the 11th century, actually had more than its 13th century church - there was the Castello Doria which gave a panoramic view of the area after a steep climb of many steps and then there was a beach reached via a tunnel.

We also had lunch in Vernazza and tried the local specialty, fish baked in salt.  (Visit Foodsparks for more details.)  It is undeniably very pretty and photogenic...

This looks like a film set!

With great seafood

Main street

Multi-coloured tomato plant - wish I could take it home!

The 13th century Church of Santa Maria d'Antiochia

Many windy streets - this was on the way to the Castello Doria 

View from the Castello Doria - have your euros ready for the climb, they charge you to go in after you've climbed many steps - very few people would say no after all that work!   And you want to see the view...

More steps take you up to the top of the 15th century lookout tower 

The terraced fields for grapes and olives are everywhere in Cinque Terre - in Vernazza, the indigenous wine vernaccia 

A surprise at the other end of the tunnel - the beach! 

Looking back from the other side 

Nice village!   Just be prepared for the crowds...

Cinque Terre - Manarola

Our driver dropped us off at the top of the hill in Manarola and we strolled through a residential area down to the waterfront.  I always enjoyed seeing how the locals lived.

Here's a nice Tuscan cat secure in its own territory...

A whimsical bridge that led just to the one house - it did make me wonder who lived there...

Another bridge that looked quite old connecting another house to the main path over a pretty stream...

An interesting nativity scene...

Then we hit the town...

The main drag

Cinque Terre has a local wine and also limoncello, both in abundance in this tourist store...

The farmhouse store selling local produce

Church of San Lorenzo dating from the 14th century

Boats are parked like cars...well, cars are not allowed

You can see the waterfront trail from here - lovers' locks on the railing...Via dell'Amore?

The rugged waterfront - love the rocky shore!

Amazing how the houses stacked up!

And it had probably looked like that since the 14th century...

Waiting for the train to the next village...

Next stop: Vernazza

Attack on Cinque Terre

We did what was for us an unusual thing on this trip - a one day tour of three villages (out of the five) in Cinque Terre, on the rugged west coast of Italy.  This is the equivalent of a guerilla style attack - we went in, hit the strategic places and leave.  Incredibly, we visited the three villages in the space of six hours, including lunch.  This was done with the help of two expert drivers and their vans - we got dropped off in one town, took the train between the towns and got picked up at the last stop.  This saved the pain of driving and looking for parking in the crowded towns - an impossible task.  We had a taste of each place but by no means got the true flavour.  

Unfortunately, it seemed that boat loads of cruise ship tourists did the same thing every day. No wonder there are protests and moves to ban large cruise ships - it must have a negative impact on the towns.  We felt it even when we didn't live there.  The huge crowds turned the small streets of these once attractive coastal havens into busy thoroughfares and whatever ambiance there was had disappeared.  One of the overnight visitors in the village said the only reprieve was early morning and at night.  I suppose in the day time, going on the hiking trails could possibly be a way of avoiding the crowds.  But I would certainly think twice before visiting again, lovely as the villages were.

A bird's eye view of the first town going north from La Spezia, quaint Riomaggiore, dating from the 13th century

Zooming in you can see many of the houses with their balconies and rooftop terraces - they looked like they were stacked on top of one another on the rocks.

The waterfront was a short walk down a windy roadway, shared by pedestrians and boats

The gelataria was the most popular store along the waterfront

Taking a break on the coastal path to admire the scenery and each other...

If I have to guess the name of the trail, it would be Via dell'Amore...;-)

The long tunnel to the train station, decorated with mosaics, made for a terrific acoustic chamber for musicians

This was the train that took people back and forth between the villages 

Next stop: Manarola