Discover Corniglia-Manarola-Riomaggiore hiking trail: adventures in Cinque Terre!

Whether you're in the process of making an itinerary for Cinque Terre or want to read about the fabulous trails in the area, you've come to the right place! If you want to know more details about how we got there and how we split our 4 days, I invite you to enter this link. In this blog post you will find information about the hiking trails between Corniglia-Manarola and Manarola-Riomaggiore.

General information about the trails

Corniglia-Manarola:

Manarola-Riomaggiore – via dell’Amore:

This stretch is perhaps the most spectacular, but also the most popular among the tourists. It's a gorgeous road along the coast, right along the cliff face. This is probably why landslides are so frequent. At the time of our visit, the road was closed for rehabilitation. You can follow this site for constant updates.

Manarola-Riomaggiore – via Beccara

General information about Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore

Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are three of the five charming villages that make up the region Cinque Terre hiking card, located on the Ligurian coast in Italy. Each of them has something special and you'll see in this article what it is.

Corniglia is the only one of the five villages that is not directly on the seafront, but about 100 meters above sea level. This makes it more airy in terms of tourists and makes it more special. To get to the city center, you need to climb the 377 steps from the central station or you can take the local bus. Once in the small town, enjoy the narrow, colorful streets that have an authentic charm.

Manarola is considered one of the oldest villages in Cinque Terre, dating back to Roman times. It is surrounded by terraces planted with vineyards, where the famous Sciacchetrà, a traditional sweet wine, is produced. It's the perfect place to have a local wine tasting or a cooking class using Genovese pesto sauce.

Riomaggiore is the southernmost village in Cinque Terre and the first stop on the train from La Spezia. It is well known for its very colorful and very small port, compared to other towns. The most famous place here is the promenade Via dell'Amore or the Road of Love that links Riomaggiore to Manarola. Because this road is right on the coast, along the steep cliffs, it is very likely to be closed due to frequent landslides.

Walking from Corniglia to Manarola

Because Cornigilia is at a higher altitude than the others, it's automatically easier to start from Corniglia to Manarola because you'll be going downhill for a good part of the time. If you don't have lodging in Corniglia, from the train station you'll have to either climb stairs or take a shuttle bus to get to the center. And if you have the accommodation there, as we did, in the evening you still have to take the stairs. We didn't go by shuttle bus because we didn't find it necessary, it was always full and we took advantage of the view towards the Ligurian coast at sunset.

From the center of the village, you'll see a hiking sign to Volastra, this being the halfway point. You will start with a small sustained climb through the forest followed by vineyards and olive groves. The route is not difficult at all, it's perfect for anyone, I saw quite a few 10-13 year olds. Behind you, Corniglia looks so beautiful high above the sea.

Volastra is a very small village where you can stop for a longer break if you feel like it. The scenery around and until you reach it is charming, filled with terraced wine vineyards, the signature of the area. From Volastra, the road descends down to Manarola, a village that will stand out spectacularly.

The advantage of this route is that you go down into the villages through side streets and you get to see more of them than the center, where the train station usually is . So try to stay for an hour and enjoy a panini on the waterfront and admire the buildings. A unique thing to do, if you have time, is to take a pesto cooking class.

Walking from Manarola to Riomaggiore

The alternative for Via dell Amore when it is closed is Via Beccara. I think you can choose this option even if the tourist one is open, because you'll arrive in Riomaggiore in a totally different area from the super popular one at the port. Or you can go to Via Beccara and turn back onto Via dell Amore and take the train from Manarola to the town where you are staying.

As Manarola and Riomaggiore are very close and only a mountain separates them, this route can be more demanding. The road starts from the center of the village of Manarola and continues with a lot of quite steep stairs, but nothing scary. This section alone took us 30 minutes. But as fast as you go up, just as fast you go down. As soon as you finish climbing the stairs, you can already see Riomaggiore and you have just as many stairs to descend. But then again, you'll have the opportunity to see Riomaggiore from a different, more local view point.

Once we arrived in Riomaggiore, we caught our breath for a few moments admiring the sea and then we set off towards the train station and the town center. The harbor here is much smaller and more popular with tourists, perhaps because it brings a lot of Disney cartoons and is very charming. In contrast, the streets are not only much narrower, but are more terraced and people's houses seem terraced.

A hidden gem that we found was the black pebble beach right next to the harbor. From the most familiar spot, where you can see the red house, turn your back and start along the wall. There will be some steps that will lead you to a hidden beach, where there are possibly very few tourists. It's a perfect spot for some peace and relaxation after a day full of hiking.

Final conclusions

The total time spent on the trails was about 4 and a half hours and we left our accommodation in Corniglia at 9am in the morning. In Manarola we stayed for an hour and a half where we also had a small lunch specific to the area, and in Riomaggiore, unfortunately, we only stayed for 30 minutes due to an unannounced heavy downpour. Luckily, the next day we were back in Riomaggiore because this is the starting point for the route to Portovenere, which you can read about here..

Both roads are exactly as you see in the pictures: small paths along the mountain, which often fit two people. And in some parts, protective fences are built. The route to Manarola offered some much more spectacular scenery, both towns are very beautiful and authentic, but I personally liked Manarola more because the central area is bigger and you don't feel there are so many people. Riomaggiore is just as beautiful, of course, but probably being first after LaSpezia, a lot of tourists stop here and it is getting crowded very easily.

I sincerely hope this guide is helpful to you in planning your vacation here and if you need any more details, feel free to leave me a comment. I also invite you to visit the pages below for all the other Cinque Terre trails.