The Cinque Terre Liguria

We decided to do the Cinque Terre whilst relatively nearby, so we headed for the coast from Barolo and went via Alba, a city we had been told was good for a visit. We stopped but found Alba much like Aosta, some great architecture but much of the city quite scruffy. We had a nice coffee and walked round the old parts before heading down to Genova. We were going to stay on the outskirts of Genova but when we found the campsite we decided to move on! We went a further 2 hours to Deiva Marina, much more convenient for the Cinque Terre and we managed to get a pitch once we went to campsites away from the coast. One campsite wanted to charge us the full pitch rate for 3 feet by the side of an access road!

The Cinque Terre is a collection of 5 borgos on the Ligurian coast between La Spezia and Genova, that were built by and for peasants who took the steep slopes of the coastal mountains and terraced the land to make it productive. We took a day to explore them and they really are quite spectacular, with narrow roads with hairpin bends joining them together. We missed the first - Riomaggiore as we were turned away by the police, the parking having been exhausted. We had tried to park further away and walk but couldn’t find anywhere. We managed all the rest, although you do have to allow at least a 3km walk to/from each town, and of course half of that is uphill back to your vehicle. So, a day is somewhat pushing it. As you walk you see the workers on the steep slopes digging/toiling in the baking heat.