Day Five: the Day off

And we went split up to enjoy different sites.

Leonie and Eileen took a train to Santa Margherita, walk to Porto Gino, boat and train back to base.

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Trish, Odette and the Irish girls went to Porto Veneri (the last of the Cinque Terre towns plus 1), the walk to this town has been closed due to landslides since 2011 and is only reachable by boat.

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Sawsan, Nadia, Gwen and I had a slow start and spent an easy day in Sestri levanti, just a short train ride from our base of Moneglia.

Day 6. Rapallo to Chiavari via Montallegro

Our last day of walking!! Quite a spectacular walk from 600 M to sea level.

Lunch spot.

Down we go.

Day Four: The tasting menu

Last night we had a feast at Assitro, voted the best restaurant in the planet by Forbes!! It definitely was delicious.

We had 7 courses!! Ranging from butterflied boneless anchovies to acorn fed pork. Paired with wine from the region and hosted by owners Luca from Madrid and his German wine. Quite the experience.

We were all in the moment and didn’t take photos of each course.  If you find yourself in Moneglia..... 

Day Four. Corniglia to Riomaggiore via Manarola

Our new routine, train to Corniglia and then some 300 plus steps into town. Despite aching muscles the steps seemed easier this morning. The town is quiet this morning and we enjoyed a beverage in the square prior to walking to Manarola.

It was a tough climb to begin with. 

The terraces were spectacular! 

All the walking was in the morning.

And a late lunch in Manarola.

Day Three. Corniglia to Monterosso via Vernazza

Today was out first day in the actual Cinque Terre national park, we started as usual with a train ride, this time to Corniglia the middle of the Cinque Terre and the only inland town, also Michala’s favoutite.

From the train station it was a 300 some step clim, zigzagging.

A view of the terraces as we climbed.

Half an hour or so later we made it to Corniglia.

With spectacular views under dramatic skies.

The coastline reminds me of the Lycian way.



Gwen struck a pose.



Potential retirement home for Leonie.

Views along the med

The walking.




Vernazza behind us, on our way to Monterosso 

Monterosso is getting closer.

Day Two. Santa Margherita to Porto Fino

A beautiful day in Liguria. It was a train from Moneglia to Sestri Levanti (east) where we had 30 mins to look around and then train to Santa Margherita - there are many churches around  the world dedicated to Saint Margaret Gwen tells me that she read it at the railway station.  We saw a heron and some zucchini with flowers.

Then it was 280m climb to look over Porto Fino. Mille de  Casque was the highest point. The weather was menacing and we saw a funnel cloud/ waterspout, it was impressive. 

Glimpses of Portofino. 

Chiesa parochial di San martino

We caught a boat back to Santa Margherita, train to Moneglia, a charming wine tasting with wines of the region, mostly white wines and finished shed with a very rich red.

Day One

Learning about the Livorno region of Italy by our sweet guide Michala.

It’s a full group of 15 and we have an 11k walk today. Looks like a beautiful day in the 70s with sunshine.

Today’s walk started with a train ride from our base Moneglia to Devia Marina. 

And then a very steep climb for about 2 1/2 hours. We were rewarded by spectacular views.

Lunch in Framura, a bit of a descent and then a 3 K walk through a pedestrian and bicycle tunnel. A few over achievers did an additional climb, including one of our Ochoa donnes.

The lift to the tunnel.

The walking ended in Bonasola and then a train back to the base. 

A yoga stretching sesion to round out the day prior to a typical Italian an dinner.