Growing up, one of the first ways I got exposed to the world of travel was through my mom's stories of her visits to Italy and France when she was younger. In fact, my recent voyage to Italy in April 2025 was almost an exact replica of her adventure. I did throw in some differences though, and the main one was that I wanted to hike in the Cinque Terre. I am a big fan of the national parks in the United States and I try to make it a point to visit at least one national park for every country that I enter (if they have any). I am also an avid hiker and the idea of hiking between villages sounded very fun!

We chose to stay in Riomaggiore for 2 nights. If I was to go back to this area, I would probably choose to stay in Riomaggiore again because it had the right balance between being lively while retaining just a tad of Italian authenticity.

This brings me to my main point. If you are expecting authentic Italian small-town charm, this is not the place to go. The towns are beautiful and photogenic but are heavily commercialized. Everywhere in Italy on the tourist circuit there are lots of souvenir stands and the like, but it felt much more noticeable here because of the small area of the towns. The crowds here also felt particularly bad because the villages are honestly not equipped to handle the amount of people that cram inside them every day. I know its rich of me to complain about crowds while contributing to them, but the sea of people was a major detractor from the supposed peacefulness of the small villages.

However, the hike between the villages is beautiful and worth the effort. My friend and I got up early and took the train to Corniglia. We had breakfast, wandered around for a bit, and then set off on our hike to Vernazza. If you have limited time, this section is the most scenic. You can see the terraced vineyards and marvel at the beautiful coastline. You can also take stunning pictures of both Corniglia as you walk away and of Vernazza as you approach. The trail had a lot of inclines surprisingly and it started heating up fairly quickly so make sure to bring plenty of water. Vernazza was beautiful but super crowded so we didn't stay too long after using the restroom and taking in the view from the harbor. It seemed to be the most popular of the 5 villages due to being the inspiration for the movie Luca.

The section in between Vernazza and Monterosso was not as scenic in my opinion, but it was still very nice. The view of Vernazza as we left was amazing. At this point, I was really looking forward to a focaccia sandwich so I didn't take as many pictures as we approached Monterosso. We enjoyed some sandwiches and then sat on the beach for a while to relax before heading back to Riomaggiore to walk the Via Dell'Amore.

The Via Dell'Amore is open again after being closed for 10 years due to landslides! The path was really beautifully placed among the rocks and at points you feel like you're right over the ocean. The walkway is also level with plenty of benches so it is a nice way for someone with mobility impairments to experience the beauty of the place. The only annoying part is that this pathway is ticketed and requires an additional fee on top of the fee for the 5Terre Trekking card, as well as a time slot choice. Although this pathway was neat, if I was to return to this WHS, I would not bother with this section of the trek and just stick to the parts covered under the 5Terre Trekking Card.