11 Things to Know about Hiking Trail 2 in Cinque Terre

Hiking Trail 2 in Cinque Terre is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it’s not as easy as it seems. This guide details everything you need to know before you land in Italy!

Italy’s Cinque Terre is known for many things: colorful villages built atop the sea, fresh pesto at every meal and a scenic hike from village to village that makes you earn that local Italian cuisine. (And oh my gawdddd is it worth the work.)

What’s not widely known about Cinque Terre – particularly the Trail 2 Cinque Terre Coastal hike that connects all the villages (terres) together – is that it’s downright hard. I’m talking unstable rocks, slippery mud paths after rains and strenuous uphills and equally painful downhills. I realize this makes me sound like a fragile weakling (I promise I’m not!), but I just had no idea what to expect given nearly all photos from Trail 2 aren’t of the path itself – they’re of the terres. In fact, from my research, I envisioned the trail being easy enough for my 60-year-old parents to hike. Ehrmmm, no. You definitely need a base fitness level here.

Let’s save you the “oh crap” mid-hike moment when you realize hiking Trail 2 in Cinque Terre is not what you signed up for. These are 11 things I learned in the moment about a village-to-village Cinque Terre hike.

(Oh, should I mention that I LOVED every second of it? Because I did. I loved, loved, lovedddd our three-day hikes through Cinque Terre with every bone in my body. I’m just making sure you and your hiking companions are more prepared than I was!)

1. Trail 2 – what’s open, what’s not, and a workaround

The Trail 2, known as the Sentiero Azzurro, or “Blue Trail” for its blue sign markers, is the most popular route for Cinque Terre hikers. It connects the northernmost town of Monterosso to the next town, Vernazza, on to Corniglia, followed by Manarola and last, Riomaggiore. In total, the route from point to point would take about six hours, but given recent landslides, you can’t get from point to point.

The route from Corniglia to Manarola and Manarola to Riomaggiore is closed as of our trip (4/2017); alternatively, you can take the quick and convenient train, or hike a different route. On the way from Corniglia to Manarola we took the train, and from Manarola we hiked route 531 – a rougher, rockier alternative.

I had trouble finding a reliable hiking trail map online, so I’d recommend purchasing a hard copy map ahead of time.

2. How to catch Trail 2

As you probably know, I’m prone to screwing up travel plans (like, a lot) so I tried really hard this time around to know necessary logistics. Not my strong suit, guys, not my strong suit. Before arriving, I searched and searched for any information on where to catch Trail 2 in the city because as I found with my hike through Sintra, trails aren’t always well marked.

Fortunately, the trails in Cinque Terre are actually obvious. The villages are small, so once you explore from one side to the other, you’ll undoubtedly run into a blue Trail 2 sign with arrows pointing you on your merry way. The toughest place to catch it is Monterosso (we got turned around, but once you hit the main square the signs are right there). The rest of the villages make it blatantly obvious, and you can always ask someone if you need help.

3. The weather can change instantly

We started our first morning with a rainbow. Then we had sunshine. Then, while housing pizza on a bench in Vernazza, the storm clouds rolled in. The skies opened on us, we considered taking the train to the next stop, but took our chances with a little rain hiking before finally ending with more beautiful weather.

My point? Be flexible, bring rain jackets, pack sunglasses and don’t let the fear of getting wet keep you from hiking Trail 2 in Cinque Terre! (But do prepare to walk slowly, because those post-rain mud paths can get a bit tricky.)

4. The trail is anything but easy

Here’s the information I really could’ve used pre-trip. The trails are steep, rocky, slippery at times and truly not for the faint of heart. If you have bad knees or poor balance, this will be a tough one. If you’re out of shape, don’t expect an easy stroll. (Even if you’re in shape, it’s still a challenge!). I work out pretty regularly – run marathons, climb in the Catskills – and felt a bit winded and sore from this scenic but strenuous hike.

5. Expect unsteady stairs

In addition to rocks, mud, hills and all that fun, Cinque Terre hiking goodness, Trail 2 – and, well, just about all the local trails – have numerous stairs along the pathway.

“Wait, stairs!?” you might ask.

Yeah, don’t get ahead of yourself. For me and my less-than-strong knees, going down the wobbly, uneven stairs (with no rails, mind you) was by far the toughest part of my Trail 2 hike. Of course, my strong-kneed companions would claim other parts of the trail were tougher, but I felt my knees locking up after all of our steep descents.

6. There’s no place for water along the path

That is, unless it starts raining … But seriously. Bring water with you on the trail because there’s nowhere to stop and buy it until you’ve reached the villages. I hear the summer it can get particularly hot!

7. Crowds are low in the offseason – but crazy come summer

Speaking of summer, it can get incredibly crowded. I’ve heard horror stories of Trail 2 being shoulder-to-shoulder with hikers. {Shudder}

If you can, visit in the off season. We went in early April and while the risk for rain was a bit higher and we weren’t able to swim in the Ligurian Sea, we basically had Manarola (our charming home base terre) all to ourselves. Hiking Cinque Terre in early April (pre-Easter), we saw maybe 10 people each day on the trails? It was quiet. It was tourist-free. And it was insanely magical. Note though, even after Easter, the crowds pick up immensely.

8. Where to stay for your hike

I may be biased because of its quaint beauty and quiet streets, but Manarola was my spirit village. I fell in love with pictures of it years ago, and knew I had to spend the majority of my time there. So we did. We found a wonderful apartment that actually had a parking garage just outside the village (a must since we were road tripping through Italy – and there’s virtually no parking, except in Monterosso!). If this sounds up your alley, comment below and I can give you the details!

Honestly, where you stay doesn’t really matter when it comes to hiking Cinque Terre; you can take the train to any starting point within 10 to 15 minutes. (We took the train out to Monterosso and started our long day hike there.)

9. Each terre has a Trail 2 “preview point”

While the hikes are hella painful, the village preview points as you arrive to each new terre are worth every strain. It’s tough to fully capture the “wow factor” of these colorful towns while you’re actually in them, so take advantage of your Trail 2 vantage points and snap those iconic Cinque Terre shots.

10. The price to hike

During the summer months, you have to pay to use Trail 2. Admission is covered by purchasing a Cinque Terre card (5-7 euro/ day); the card grants access to the trail, trains and museums We didn’t have to pay for the trail in early April, but still purchased the pass for the train service. Tickets can be purchased at each of the village’s train station.

A final note on train service – you must validate your ticket prior to boarding the train. Little boxes that validate your tickets are available throughout the station before you enter the platform, so it’s pretty hard to mess up!

11. Where – and what – to eat while hiking

The Cinque Terre hikes hardly require mid-trail fueling; the longest of hikes takes no more than 90 to 120 minutes, based on your fitness level. So bringing along fuel for the trek may be overkill. Although, if you’re a typically hangry person, best to bring along a granola bar for everyone’s safety…

While you don’t have to eat on the trails, you should totally reward yourself in the villages! The food is too good to miss. My go-to meal was one of the Cinque Terre’s iconic dishes, focaccia pizza. I seriously had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, repeat, the entire three days we were here. It was light enough that I didn’t get stomach aches on the trail, but filling enough that I was beyond satisfied. So satisfied, in fact, that I had to wear slightly baggier clothes the rest of the trip because I just ate so freaking much.

If you’re looking for the best focaccia pizza in Cinque Terre (wise choice!), my favorite was Batti Batti’ Focacceria in Vernazza (on Piazza Guglielmo Marconi).

Another go-to quick-meal option is fried fish in a cone. This light snack is a Cinque Terre specialty, and a great way to sample the local fish without ordering a full sit-down meal.

Bonus tip to give your tired legs a break! Cinque Terre’s Corniglia village is just plain tough to visit. By train, you have to take 382 steps up to the village when you arrive. By trail, you have to hike an hour from Vernazza along relatively tough terrain. Oh, right, and as I previously mentioned, the trail from Manarola to Corniglia is closed until further notice sooo… yeah. No getting there that way.

We opted for the hike and were rewarded with additional Cinque Terre views, but didn’t realize the 382 steps down that were required to leave the village and almost missed our train! (Note, you can always take a bus up from the train if that’s how you arrive in this village, I just wanted to the glory of arriving on foot. So much glory.)

And, my friends, that is a big ol’ brain dump of everything I wish I’d known about hiking Trail 2 through Cinque Terre! It was one of my favorite travel experiences so far, and one I hope you find yourself on soon.

If you have any questions at all, please comment below!