Riomaggiore Mural © Travel Signposts..

In the centre of the Riomaggiore village, in front of the very modern Tourist Information Office, is a huge colourful mural by Silvio Benedetto. The mural tells the story of the men and women who over several generations and thousands of years built and maintained more than eight million cubic meters of dry stone walls that run throughout the Cinque Terre.

Using sandstone only, they had no cement or any cohesive material to work with, which makes the landscape that they built unique to the world.

The aim of the mural is to pay homage to these unsung heroes. Hopefully the many visitors that flood the Cinque Terre each year will stop for a brief moment when in Riomaggiore to acknowledge the unknown heroes whose past labours have contributed to make the Cinque Terre what it is today.

Silvio Benedetto’s explanation of his works:

“This is how I chose to narrate them – without heroism or vaunting, without “affability” or idealism. I painted men of times gone by who saved their land by raising walls, stone upon stone. These men decided to undertake this opus independently, that is without subjection, and this is why upon seeing their portrayal someone commented, “there’s toil but also serenity in their faces”. Hard but serene faces. Faces bereft of pleasantries and ambiguities. Faces like the landscape with wrinkles like furrows that do not welcome impostors, jesters or the high and mighty but seeds of freedom. I painted men that prop up the land: one passes stones between the thorns, another supports the wall between strawberry trees and honeysuckles, another places stones among salamanders and yet another hits the stones and frightens the jays.”

In the little courtyard facing the harbour, above the town municipal office, is the other of Silvio Benedetto’s mural. .

Via dell'Amore - Cinque Terre

Via dell’Amore is Cinque Terre’s most famous walk and one that most visitors to Cinque Terre are capable of doing.

Apart from some steps up to the trail, it’s an easy 25 minutes walk on flat 850 metres of paved walkway. You would of course want to allow more time than 25 minutes to enjoy the magnificent views and take snaps.

Via dell’Amore is the easiest section of the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Trail) which takes walkers from Riomaggiore to Monterosso.

Its romantic history attracts many people to this walk and at times it seems like a superhighway, especially when you come across groups of visitors who are on day trips to Cinque Terre.

You can approach the trail from Riomaggiore or the Manarola entrance.  There are many signs pointing to the walk entrance so you can’t miss it.  We wanted to work our way from south to north of the Cinque Terre so we started from Riomaggiore.

Via dell’Amore forms part of the Cinque Terre walking trails which are managed by the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre.  You have to pay an entrance fee to walk the trail and there are Control Points at both ends of the path where you’ll be asked to produce your ticket.  If you’ve bought a Cinque Terre Card, it covers the entrance to Via dell’Amore.

Via dell'Amore - Padlocks of Love

Along the trail there are benches where you can sit and enjoy the splendid views. Bar dell’Amore is a small café on the trail where you can get something to eat and drink whilst enjoying the fantastic views.  On  a fine day, it’s easy to want to sit up here the whole day.

Via dell’Amore’s Famous Padlocks

One of the interesting things that you’ll see along the trail are padlocks on a fence and under the tunnel near the Manarola side. Young loves wanting to lock in their love forever, come to Via dell’Amore, write their names on the lock and close it on a fence along the trail. If you’re so inclined to do this but have forgotten to bring your lock don’t panic, you can buy one from the hardware store next to Bar Centrale in Riomaggiore.  Some might think that the locks thrash up the area, but hey, this is part of the romantic history of Cinque Terre’s lovers’ lane.

Trofie al Pesto - Ligurian specialty

Trofie pasta is a Ligurian specialty and this is one dish that you’ll find on most restaurant menus.

Trofie is often served with pesto (Trofie al Pesto) which is also a specialty of the Ligurian region. In fact, Liguria is the birthplace of pesto which uses basil as its main ingredient. Basil grows very well in the temperate Ligurian climate.

The Trofie pasta is made with flour and water  and the dough is rolled on a flat surface until it forms a thin rounded strip of pasta with tapered ends. It is then cut into little pieces and twisted into its final shape. You can buy the dried version, which look like thin, pale “Twisties”. They plump up to 2-3 times their size when cooked.

Trofie al Pesto is a quick and simple enough pesto pasta dish to prepare if you buy the pesto sauce and of course its flavour relies heavily on the quality of the pesto.  Freshly made pesto is always preferable as you can’t beat the smell of freshly grounded basil.   Grounded basil also oxidizes quickly turning into a dark shade, so it’s the freshly made pesto that gives the fresh green colour that you see in this photo.

We found the pesto quality varied quite a bit in Cinque Terre with some restaurants using diluted pesto sauce resulting in a tasteless Trofie al Pesto.  However, when you come across a good version, its delicious.

A Quick Recipe for Trofie al Pesto

Ingredients:

125g tub of bought fresh pesto sauce
400g Trofie pasta
125g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cooked and chopped potato and some beans (optional)
Salt

Preparation:

Heat some water in a large saucepan with a tablespoon of salt and bring it up to a boil. Add the pasta, stir and let it cook for 10 minutes.  Drain the pasta in a colander, then tip it back into the saucepan.  Add the pesto sauce (and vegetable) and stir it to give everything a good coating.  Serve in heated pasta bowls and sprinkle with parmesan. Cooking time is 15-20 minutes.

Buon appetito!

Trenitalia Cinque Terre tickets

By Train:

The regional train that serves the five villages runs between La Spezia Centrale and Sestri Levanti or Genoa.  Fares are cheap at Euro 1.40 one-way, and the difference between a 5 km trip and a 10 km trip is only Euro 10 cents. The tickets are valid for 6 hours in each direction.  So if you’re at Riomagiorre and heading north, you can stop at all the other four villages within a 6-hour time-frame.  Your return trip requires a separate ticket.

When you purchase your ticket, make sure that you validate it at the yellow machine on the platform.  Train conductors do come around checking for tickets and if you’re caught without a validated ticket, the on-the-spot fine is Euro 25.  It’s hardly worth this risk given that the fares are only Euro 1.40.

If you’re staying for a few days and plan on doing some of the walks, you’ll probably be making a few trips back and forth between the five villages every day.  It may be worth buying the Cinque Terre Treno card which includes unlimited train travel for the duration of your card.  A 3-day Cinque Terre card costs Euro 10 and with unlimited train rides included, the cost is Euro 19.  This saves you the hassle of buying tickets for each time you wish to hop on the train or ensures that you already have a ticket if a train happens to be on the platform. It also gives you the freedom to go to different villages for dinner if choose to do so.

Handy Tips:

Train timetables are posted at the station but it’s useful having a copy with you at all times when you’re out and about during the day or night so that you’ll know when you need to head for the station.  The ticket office has wallet size photocopies of these.  Another good reason for having these with you is that trains are sometimes late.  Jumping on the incorrect train could land you in the wrong destination as we all found out one day.  A train arrived at the station and everyone piled on board only to find that it’s the  non-stop train to Monterosso.

Always listen to the train announcements which are given in Italian and English as well.  You’ll very quickly get used to the many announcements in regard to the high-speed transit trains that don’t stop and other announcements as to which ‘binare’ or platform your train will be arriving at.

Shuttle Buses:

These run within the respective towns only.   Corniglia is the only Cinque Terre village that is not by the coast and requires a shuttle bus trip from the station if you don’t wish to hike uphill to the village – it is quite a hike!  The green National Park bus service meets each train arrival at Corniglia and with the Cinque Terre Card, the trip is free.  Otherwise, you’ll pay Euro 1.50 for the trip.

Boats:

Boats run between Riomaggiore and Monterosso during the day.  It’s much more expensive than the trains, but it’s worthwhile doing at least one trip from Riomggiore to Monterosso or vice versa to enjoy  the sea journey, as well as the water views of the villages.  One-way fare in either direction is Euro 8.00.

Walking:

The Cinque Terre offers lots of scenic walks between the five villages and other off the beaten track trails.  Walking the coastal route between the villages or the other trails is very much part of the enjoyment of being in the Cinque Terre.

Map of Italy with major cities

A Suggested Route around Italy

A comprehensive tour of Italy would take a long time, and if limited to the usually visited sights would omit many interesting experiences. However, here is my offering, and I’d say this was a 24 day minimum (excluding Rome):

Note: links to the towns go to photo albums on the TravelSignposts website

Rome – Cerveteri/Tarquinia – Viterbo – Orvieto – Siena – San Gimignano – Florence – Pisa – Carrara – Portofino (Cinque Terre) – Genoa – Milan – Stresa (Lake Maggiore) – Como – Verona – Bolzano – Cortina d’Ampezzo – Brenta Canal – Venice (NOT Mestre) – Pomposa – Ravenna (St Apollinare in Classe) – Perugia – Assisi – Castel Gondolfo – Frascati – Pompeii – Sorrento – Capri – Positano (Amalfi Coast) – Bari – Matera – Castellana – Alberobello – Lecce – Taranto – Calabrian Mountains – Taormina – Syracuse – Ortygia Island – Piazza Armerina – Enna – Selinunte – Agrigento – Mondello – Palermo – Naples – Monte Cassino – Rome

Most of the standard Europe tours cover roughly the same major highlights, but miss out Sicily, the Genoa section, one or both of the Italian Lakes and Dolomite sectors, and the southeast sector round Alberobello. Distances are not huge and roads are good, so in many cases it would easily be possible to change the order I’ve given above without major difficulty.

Don’t know where a place is? Try this map from Google:

Other Italy pages:

Travel to Italy for more than a Roman holiday!

When to travel to Italy for your tour: weather and seasons

Useful facts, dates and links to help you plan your tour of Italy

Food in Italy: a brief gastronomic tour

Book your sightseeing tours or day-trips in Italy online

Book your hotel in Italy online

TOUR ROUTES IN ITALY: PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS