Here are some suggestions on hiking the Cinque Terre:
After spending 5 days in Cinque Terre, we discovered several things that may be useful to other hikers. I bet you’ve done your research well but sometimes a simple piece of advice may be quite helpful. Here are my suggestions on hiking the Cinque Terre trail:
Hiking the Cinque Terre: Set off in the morning
There are a couple of benefits to hiking Cinque Terre early in the morning:
- It’s free! The booth does not open till around 9 am, so if you complete your hike before 9, there is nowhere to buy your ticket. This saved us €15 , €7.50 per person, which is certainly quite a bit.
- You avoid the crowds! While there are thousands of tourists in Cinque Terre every day, most of them don’t start hiking till later in the day. We literally ran into a dozen hikers at the most.
- It’s certainly cooler! We finished both hikes within 90 minutes, so at 9 am we were already sitting at a coffee shops in Corniglia and Monterosso enjoying freshy squeezed orange juice and a cappuccino. Most people haven’t started hiking the Cinque Terre trail yet.
Bring a change of clothes and a swimming suit
- If you’re hiking in the summer, you are going to sweat! Bring an extra T-shirt to change into after the hike. It will make you more comfortable.
- After a sweaty hike, it will probably feel great to jump into the Ligurian Sea. Don’t forget to bring your swim suit.
Bring your own water bottle
- There are water fountains in every Cinque Terre town. Bring your own water bottle to refill it after a long hike. It will save you several euros.
In addition to the suggestions on hiking the Cinque Terre, you can read about specific towns here:
