For many centuries the villages of Cinque Terre were only reachable by sea. When young lovers wanted to meet they had to take a different path to do so in secret. A network of mule tracks connected the villages over the hills and vineyards. After dusk these were the paths lovers could take to finally meet their loved ones. Today the lovers’ lane is a favourite hiking route for many, its romantic past became history.
The region of Liguria is characterised by many little villages scattered across the landscape. They are little planets of their own, all of them different yet charming in their own ways. Some impressions from July 2021.
Lerici is situated at the southern end of the Gulf of La Spezia, sometimes called Gulf of Poets as well, since it is known for renowned writers such as Lord Byron spending time here. Lerici itself is a small town with around 10.000 inhabitants, but it is lovely, colourful and definitively worth a visit.
Wandering Cinque Terre you experience a diverse and beautiful coastline, rough and steep at times and smooth in other places. Photographed in July 2022.
Bella Italia! Who doesn’t know Italy, who doesn’t love Italy? It is the country of wine, excellent cuisine and rich history after all. It can take a lifetime to explore all the interesting places in Italy, especially if you travel slowly and meaningfully as you should. But no matter how much time you have, Italy is always worth a visit.
Cinque Terre is a national park in Liguria, a region in the northwest of Italy situated just south of Genova. It is not only a national park but home to five distinct villages, also called “Cinque Terre” – the five villages – by locals and foreigners alike. These places are called Vernazza, Riomaggiore, Monterosso, Corniglia and Manarola. So what’s so special about them? For a long period of time they were only reachable from the sea by boat, nowadays there is a train line connecting all of them, and the time to go from one to the other is usually just a couple of minutes. Imagine a subway line, but instead of connecting different neighbourhoods of one city you can be in different towns along a beautiful coast in mere minutes. Another possibility to travel between these places is to hike. That’s one of the major reasons why people like to come to Cinque Terre, they hike from one place to the other and take the train back later on. It’s so incredibly easy!
Michael Hoffman Photography 