This video may seem like not much, but if you’ve been to the Cinque Terre you know the thrill of going through the black train tunnel, gazing into the darkness, waiting for the colorful glory of the Riviera to blast into view. The chugging rhythm of the rails, the dank smell of the tunnels, the playfully meandering white line on the tunnel wall — and the ear-splitting but strangely happy screech of the train as it lumbers to a halt in your own little chunk of Mediterranean paradise — are all part of the ritual of a holiday in Italy’s Cinque Terre.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
Comments
Just want to say…beautifully, beautifully written progress report on Vernazza and Monterosso. Much appreciated.
I could be wrong but people should not overlook La Spezia just 15 minutes and a few miles down the tracks as a jumping off point to explore Cinque Terre villages.
Just yesterday my wife and I finished up our visit to the Cinque Terre, we spent 4 nights in Corniglia. We visited Vernazza twice and were impressed by the progress that they are making in repairing the flood damage. Monterossa looked fine, I could not see any evidence of flood damage. There were many more trails open than anyone would want to walk in a week, do not avoid a visit because a few of the trails are closed.
One disappointment was the removal of the “love locks” along the via dell’Amore. The park offices in The Cinque Terre sell padlocks to attach along the trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore. Some one, perhaps the same people that sell the locks, cut off a lock that my wife and I put up the year before. Ours was a lock brought from home, perhaps they only cut off non-park service locks. Now, instead of attaching padlocks I noticed that a lot of people are hanging up bits of cloth, scraps of plastic bags and other trash instead of locks. I think that the park service is discouraging something that looked charming (attaching padlocks) and now people are substituting trash and spray-paint.
I love this video. We have been to the Cinque Terre several times and a few years ago I wrote this poem in my journal about the train trip there.
Train to the Cinque Terre
From darkness to light
darkeness to light,
As the train emerges from the tunnel,
rocky sandy beaches flicker by
like slides on a carousel projector.
Don’t forget to stop
and enjoy this scenic wonder
Just returned from Riomaggiore yesterday and found the only 2 walks available are. The Amore Walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola and the last one from Monterossa to Vernazza. All the rest are closed due to washouts from Oct storms. Good to note on your site as well as your other great update on their restoration progress. Thanks for the great info on the area.