Fees for Hiking the Cinque Terre
All the paths are maintained by the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre. There is a daily fee to use the coastal trail of €7.50 or €14.50 for two days. If you have not purchased a pass in advance there are booths at the trail heads in each village to collect the fees. Info on passes, trail availability, maps, and more can be found on the Park’s website.
There is an extensive network of trails above the coastal trail and use of these higher trails is still free. While these trails are often quite strenuous, they are not heavily trafficked and offer some amazing views you can only get from these elevations.
Hiking the Cinque Terre Coastal Path
The Cinque Terre is a paradise for day hiking. There are trails to keep you busy for days, there is always a place to grab lunch or panini and fruit for a picnic, and any of the villages make a perfect location to come back to every evening for a delicious dinner by the sea.
When we first visited in 2006 we hiked the whole Sentiero Azzurro in one day. Leaving early from Vernazza we hiked south through Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. From there we took a ferry up to Monterosso and hiked back to Vernazza. It was an amazing day but fair warning: the path out of Monterosso is a long, steep, tough climb at the end of the day. It becomes longer, steeper, and tougher if you spend a couple of hours in the wine cellar of a local you happened to meet in Riomaggiore!
