Cinque Terre

 Our last day in Italy and what should we do? We had seen all that we wanted to in Pisa and were checking online for ideas.

Daz realised that the Cinque Terre was in reach on an InterCity train, so off we went.

The Cinque Terre are five villages clinging on to the cliffs, and are world famous for their beautiful coloured houses and spectacular setting.

 We got off the train at Monterosso and wandered around. There is a cliff path to the next village, but it was closed due to a landslide, so instead we caught the local train through a tunnel.

We arrived at Corniglia and had to climb hundreds of steps up to the village.

Then we set off across the cliffs to the next village.

Then at the highest point a beautiful mirage appeared.

It wasn't a cheap mirage, and the only food they served was oranges that they probably picked from a nearby tree, but what a view. Great music too.

Feeling refreshed, we set off down to Vernazza. Probably the most beautiful of all the villages.

Back on the train through another tunnel to Riomaggiore. Their path is called the Via dell'amore. It is almost flat, although there are quite a lot of steps up to the start of it.

The path was closed for 20 years and only reopened in 2024. It obviously took a huge amount of building to create the path and in places it is dug out of the rocks.

It is supposed to be about one kilometre long and go round to the fifth village, but it wasn't possible to get through because of a rockfall.

So we went back to look around the village and then back to the station.

Darren was keen to get the train through the tunnel to the fifth village, but I was so tired that instead we whizzed back to the hotel on the fast train.