If you take a train north from La Spezia, a city equidistant between Pisa and Genoa, you will pass through an exceptional number of tunnels along the coast line to Rapallo. As you look out the windows between tunnels you will see little villages clinging to the sides of cliffs, like barnacles on an old freighter. This is the area known as the Cinque Terre, the Five Lands.

Each village is basically pretty much like the next, built essentially in a gully above the seashore. The Five Lands are actually five of these villages, built in the Dark Ages to hide out from marauding pirates. The villages have been declared a National Park and to preserve their historic authenticity large hotels, in fact nearly all new buildings of any kind are prohibited. The only access is by the train and the sea. There is a well kept up hiking trail joining the five villages that can best be described as climbing out of a village, then descending into the next village, then climbing out of that village and so on. But the views from the hiking trail are spectacular.

Here the coastline is running east to west and the five villages in that order are: Riomaggiore where the hiking trail starts, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare (Red Mountain by the Sea) where the trail ends for our purposes. Because of the ban on building, there are few hotels, there are B&Bs, pensiones and other small places for the light traveller.

Vernazza has a very old ruined castle overlooking its small natural harbor and it is a great place from which to explore the Cinque Terre. First day, you can catch the early ferry to Riomaggiore and start hiking through the villages back to Vernazza. It's about six to seven hours, allowing time for a wine here, a lunch there, etc., along the way.

The first stretch from Riomaggiore to Manarola is fairly level, the locals call it the Via Dell'Amore and takes about 15-20 minutes. Manarola is a good place to pick up a few things for a picnic before heading on to Corniglia. This village sits above the coastline. You can walk right through the lower part of the town and head out to the next village, if you don't pause for a moment and notice that there is more of the village well above the trail, in fact 370 steps zigzagging up the hillside to the upper level. The climb is worth it though, the fantastic view enhances the wine and the food and there are quite a few private rooms for rent.

The story is that a Roman farmer named the village after his mother, Cornelia. Corniglian was once so famous that urns of it were found in the ruins of Pompeii. Now you can follow the high trail through the vineyards and a few olive groves. Between Corniglia and Vernazza, you'll see a beach called Guvano with (in the summer) nude sunbathers reposing along it. It's the Italian version of counter-culture: pierced nipples (male and female), tattooed punks, hippies in dreadnoughts and plain exhibitionists. Not a family beach!

This part of the trail is the most interesting, with its terraced vineyards clinging to the mountain walls all along, wild flowers, the salt-lace aroma of the sea whenever a breeze blows it up the mountain side. There are a few spots for the daring to do high dives down into the sea and numerous refreshing waterfalls. This is a two hour hike if you don't press it. Eventually it descends into Vernazza.

If you have the time to linger awhile, then plan to stay another night in Vernazza and then you can visit Monterosso tomorrow. Vernazza has pretty much one street that stretches from the harbor up a slight grade to the train station and on into the vineyards beyond. There are a quite a number of fishermen who sail out of this little harbor early in the morning each day, you can count on some very fine fresh seafood in any caf