The coastal road between all the Cinque Terre towns is closed due to a landslide. This left two options for us: hike the much more difficult high road between towns or take the train. We started hiking the high road to Vernazza, but quickly gave up, turned around, and headed down the hill to the Corniglia train station.

Corniglia is unique among the Cinque Terre towns in that it isn’t at sea level. Thus, visitors must either hike up 365 steps to the town or take a shuttle for 1.5 euro one-way. For our trips up the hill, we opted to take the shuttle. For our trips down the hill, we braved the stairs and took in the view.

Today, we visited two of the Cinque Terre towns: Vernazza and Monterosso. Vernazza is Rick Steves’s favorite Cinque Terre town. This was clear from the numerous tourists with Rick Steves guide books in hand. We walked around town a bit trying to follow the walking tour from the book, but eventually gave up and walked to the harbor to relax and take in the sights and eat some lunch. Next, we headed to Monterosso, the only of the five towns with a “real” beach. We once again failed to complete the walking tour and just enjoyed the sights. Tired after hours of walking, we headed back to Corniglia.