This week finished with our 74th night in the van and we are stoked to say we have camped, parked, squatted (etc) for free MORE than we paid (just by one night, but c’mon).
We started this week off in the Cinque Terre. After a quick drive around we quickly realised trying to get a park in or around one of the villages would be too difficult considering our size, so we pulled into a parking bay just off the side of the road, on the edge of the cliff, up the road from Riomaggiore (the southern most town of the Cinque Terre).
To reach the town, we had to walk along the road and down the mountain which took around 45 (sweaty) minutes but in return were granted excellent views over Riomaggiore and our first taste of the Cinque Terre.
Monday was spent exploring Riomaggiore and relishing the best rock beach we’ve probably been to. We had planned to take the leisurely coastal path to the next town, Manarola, but unfortunately found the path was closed (as was the coastal path from Manarola to Corniglia – you can take another path between these two towns but we decided not to). There was no alternate route to Manarola other than by train and we weren’t properly prepared so rendered the day a write off and headed back to the beach.
Come Tuesday, we were more prepared and drove about 20 minutes down the road to Corniglia, figuring this was a good place to start a day full of walking. Similarly to Riomaggiore, we didn’t like our chances of finding a park in town so left Peggy on the main road and started the trek down the marked path to the village. The path was steep and quite sketchy and we quickly realised climbing back up at the end of the day would not be fun…
Once we reached Corniglia (just under an hour of solid down hill), we had a quick wander through town before buying the mandatory trekking pass which was 7.50€ each for the day (there was also option to purchase a pass that included train travel for about 10€ pp). The town itself was a little different to Riomaggiore in that it wasn’t situated on the water but was extremely beautiful nonetheless.
The trek from Corniglia to Vernazza took just under 1.5 hours and warranted a sneaky dip the second we arrived. There was a harbour that was full of people swimming but we had spied a beach from our high vantage point when walking and went on the hunt for that instead. Accessed through a cave, the beach was small and super rocky but refreshing regardless. We both agreed Vernazza was quickly becoming our favourite village which we think had a lot to do with staring at a life size photo of it at Cardiff Italian for the last few years.
The walk from Vernazza to Monterosso took about the same time but was a little more gruelling (not to mention, extremely hot). The views of the last (or first?) village came quickly into sight and highlighted how much bigger it was to the rest. Again, we headed straight for the beach before anything else. It was extremely beautiful and refreshing but was more of a typical beach as opposed to Riomaggiore which had a bit more character.
After going for a quick wander, we were quickly running out of steam so headed for the ferry. Many people had told us the best way to see the towns was from the sea, so we had been particularly excited for this part.
We had planned to catch the ferry from Monterosso to Riomaggiore as thats where we had camped for a few nights, but due to the path being closed and us moving up the road to Corniglia, we didn’t realise this would affect this part of the plan. We had assumed (which everyone knows gets you nowhere) that it wouldn’t matter what town we got the ferry to but unlucky for us, Corniglia is the only town the ferry DOESN’T go to so our only option was the train (which does travel along the coast, but still).
Remember how I mentioned Corniglia is the only town not located on the water? Well, once off the train (that travels along the coast) we had to walk up a mountainous set of stairs to even reach the village (free shuttle bus was packed by the time we got out of the station). Also remember how I mentioned we had to walk an hour downhill from Peggy to even reach Corniglia? Well, once we finally reached the town, we had to climb the actual mountain. To say it was torture might be an overstatement but I’m standing by it. Yes, I’m in the Cinque Terre and am experiencing all these beautiful places but after 6 hours of walking, I was DONE.
After a truly delightful couple of days, Jack decided we had definitely “Cinque Terre’d” so we started heading south. It took us a couple of days (staying in non-descript, albeit free places) to reach Roma. We thought a caravan park was well deserved and picked Camping Village Tiber out of the list – 37.90€ per night (one of the more expensive we’ve stayed at) but good spot close to public transport, pool, not too crowded and showers!
Friday and Saturday were both spent exploring Italy’s capital and being true tourists – the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Vatican, piazza after piazza, gelato after pizza etc etc. We have loved our time in Roma (but might settle for a visit in Winter next time).
Note: The travelling to and from Rome itself was made incredibly easy through the use of the 24/48/72 hour travel cards. A neat little system for tourists similar to the Opal cards back home however they provide unlimited travel on various forms of transport throughout Rome and the surrounding suburbs for a fixed time limit at a really good price. We bought two of the 48 hour cards for 12.50€ each and managed to take 4 rural trains, 5 subway trips and 4 buses during that time – money well spent.
Sunday morning we continued the journey south and found a spot just outside of Sorrento (for free), ready to explore the ever so raved about, Amalfi Coast.
Until Week Twelve. Arrivederci x
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