Places/Italy

Liguria

The Cinque Terre

Five villages on a steep coast. Sleep in one. Walk to another. Do not collect them all before supper.

The Cinque Terre is a national park that became a famous picture. The villages are real, the paths are steep, and the trains between them are short, crowded, and the correct way to move when you are not walking.

A card covers the park paths and the local trains — check this year’s rules before you go, because they change. The rules are there because the hills were being worn out by affection.

See

• One path, early

  The blue trail between two villages, not all afternoon across every ridge. Start before the heat and before the day-trippers’ train.

• A swim

  Monterosso has the beach people mean. The other villages have rocks and ladders. Bring shoes you can wear into either.

• The village at dusk

  After the last day-trip train leaves, the photograph becomes a place again. This is why you slept here.

• A view without a hike

  If the paths are closed for rockfall — they sometimes are — the train and the harbour still justify the trip. Do not force a closed trail.