Hiking Guide to the Cinque Terre

However crowded the villages of the Cinque Terre get, the reason most people come is still the walk between them: a cliffside path above the Ligurian Sea that threads through vineyards, olive groves and all five villages. Each section is different, in difficulty, in upkeep, and in 2026 in whether it’s open at all and which way you’re allowed to walk it. This guide takes the coastal path section by section, then the two quieter trails above it, then the cards and rules you need before you set out.

>> Learn more about getting around in the Cinque Terre for the times when you’re not hiking.

Before You Start: The 2026 Rules

The villages and the land around them became the Cinque Terre National Park in 1999, and the park now manages the busiest paths closely. What that means for you:

• You need a Cinque Terre Card on the paid sections of the coastal trail (Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia) and on the Via dell’Amore. Rangers check at booths on the trail. Details and 2026 prices are at the bottom of this page.
• The Via dell’Amore needs a booked time slot and runs one way only, Riomaggiore to Manarola.
• Manarola to Corniglia on the coast is closed. It has been shut for years after landslides and was still closed in 2026. There’s an inland route instead, described below.
• Monterosso to Vernazza can be one-way. On the busiest days of 2026 (the Easter weekend, 1 and 2 May, 14 May and 30 May to 1 June) the park allowed walking only from Monterosso toward Vernazza until 2 p.m. More than 70% of hikers walk it that way regardless, according to the park’s own counters.
• Sections close after storms, sometimes for months. Check the Cinque Terre National Park website on the morning you hike. In March 2026, for example, the park reopened the Monterosso to Vernazza section after a closure.
• Heat is a real risk. In summer the park asks hikers to stay off the trails from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The stretch from Monterosso to Corniglia has almost no shade.

So which direction? The sections below run south to north, easiest first, but for the paid coastal stretch I’d walk the other way: start in Monterosso, do the hardest leg to Vernazza on fresh legs and in the cool of the morning, then carry on to Corniglia and take the train back. It’s the direction the park enforces on one-way days anyway, so you’re never caught out by the calendar.

The paths are marked with red and white paint stripes on rocks, walls and lampposts. They’re easy to lose as you come through each village, so look for them at corners and at the tops of staircases. Signs at the trailheads tell you not to hike in flip-flops or heels, and park staff now check footwear on busy days. You don’t need technical gear, but you do need shoes with real grip and a liter or more of water per person.

The whole coastal route takes about five hours of walking, before you add time for lunch, swimming and sitting in a harbor with a glass of white wine. Start as early as you can. You’ll beat the heat and most of the crowds.

Riomaggiore to Manarola: the Via dell’Amore

This is the famous “Lovers’ Lane,” and it’s the easiest section by a mile. It’s flat, paved and cut into the cliff face, which is why I hesitate to call it a trail at all. A rockslide closed it in September 2012 and it only fully reopened in July 2024, rebuilt and with new rules. You enter at Riomaggiore (turn left out of the station), walk one way to Manarola, and you must book a 30-minute entry slot in advance, with up to 200 people allowed per slot. You book it as the “Cinque Terre Card Plus” at card.parconazionale5terre.it, or through viadellamore.info. The park’s Via dell’Amore page has the current hours.

At a stroll it takes about 20 minutes. Slots sell out on summer weekends, so book this one first and plan the rest of the day around it. The love notes and padlocks are still there, and so are the couples.

Manarola to Corniglia: Go Inland Through Volastra

With the coastal section closed, this is the one leg that looks nothing like the old descriptions. The route runs up out of Manarola to the hamlet of Volastra (trail 506), then along the hillside through the vineyards on trail 586 to Case Pianca, and down to Corniglia on trail 587. It’s a real hike: the climb out of Manarola is a long staircase through the terraces, several hundred meters of height gain, and you should allow two to two and a half hours. The payoff is the best view of the terraced vineyards anywhere in the Cinque Terre, and far fewer people than on the coast. These paths are free.

If you don’t want the climb, take the train one stop. Corniglia’s station is at the bottom of the cliff; from there it’s more than 360 steps up the zigzag staircase to the village, or a ride on the park bus, which is free with a Cinque Terre Card.

Corniglia to Vernazza

Because Corniglia sits on top of its cliff, you leave it going down, mostly. This section heads gradually downhill with some seriously steep bits, over uneven stone steps that need your attention. It’s also where the trail starts to feel exposed: narrow in places, with a vineyard wall on one side and a drop to the sea on the other, and no railing.

It’s open both ways, even on the busy days, so you’ll find out soon enough what passing someone coming the other way is like. Once you reach Vernazza, there’s a final set of steep switchback steps down into town, so don’t start celebrating too early. Allow about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare

This is the hardest section. It climbs steeply, drops, and climbs again, and it has the most stretches barely wide enough for one person, many with a drop on one side. That’s why the park makes it one-way on crowded days. The good news: the olive groves and vineyards get thicker, and the path dips inland into shady woods now and then, which feels wonderful in summer. The view over Vernazza’s harbor from the path just above town is the photo everyone wants.

Allow about 1.5 to 2 hours, more if the trail is busy and you spend it stopping and starting.

The High Trail (Alta Via delle Cinque Terre)

If you want a real challenge and an escape from the crowds, this is it. The High Trail (marked AV5T) follows the ridge high above the villages and runs beyond them, from Portovenere in the south to Levanto in the north. Walked end to end it takes most of a long day, 6 to 10 hours depending on who you ask, and it’s less well marked than the coastal path. Carry a proper map. It’s free.

You don’t have to commit to the whole thing. Plenty of paths drop from the ridge to the villages, so you can walk a section and head down to a bar for a glass of the local dessert wine whenever you’ve had enough. No one will judge you.

The Sanctuary Trails

Each village has a sanctuary, a church or shrine in the hills above it, and paths link them to each other and to the villages below. They make good half-day hikes, and they’re the best answer when the coastal path is closed or packed. From Vernazza you can climb to the sanctuary of Nostra Signora di Reggio and loop back to Monterosso by the inland route, which the park itself suggests as an alternative. These trails are quieter and less well marked, so take a map and ask at a park office if you can’t find the start.

Cinque Terre National Park Visitor Information

• Cinque Terre Card: You need one for the paid stretches of the coastal trail and for the Via dell’Amore. The Trekking Card covers the trails and the park buses, and cost about €10 a day in 2026 (about €15 on peak days). The Treno Card adds unlimited regional trains between Levanto and La Spezia and ran from about €17.30 a day in low season to about €35 on peak days. If you’re hiking one section and riding the train back, the Treno Card is usually the better buy. Prices move with the season, so check the park’s Cinque Terre Card page, and buy online at card.parconazionale5terre.it or at the park offices in the stations.
• Trail maps: Get a proper hiking map before you set out, especially for the High Trail and the sanctuary paths. Park offices and shops in the villages sell them, or you can pack one from home: search for a Cinque Terre hiking map.
• Trail status: The Cinque Terre National Park website posts closures, one-way days and heat warnings. Check it the morning you walk.
• Emergencies: Call 112, the European emergency number.

photos, top to bottom, by: finofilka, paige_eliz, SandraW12, mismisimos, Lee Coursey, Lee Coursey, mismisimos, milano24ore, jsbanks42