After listening to the early morning downpour yesterday, we wondered if the path we had planned to walk would have been washed away. May was very wet here, as it was in Bologna, and some of the paths between the villages of the Cinque Terre are closed. Our walk though, was not on the Cinque Terre coast and was in excellent condition.
We started the walk in Campiglia, a bus ride from La Spezia, and followed a well-marked trail to Portovenere (dubbed the ‘sixth terre’).
The start of our walk. There should be a view here, but all you can see is the low cloud. Campiglia is 400 metres above sea level.
The cloud slowly cleared as we went.View of La Spezia through the mist.Finally, it’s clear and also warmer.Going down. A lot of the path was very rocky.First glimpse of PortovenereThis is a valuable variety of black marble found in the area. The stone has been quarried here since Roman times. This is what the marble looks like when cut and polished.Lush vegetation The bay was busy with boats. The castle We were too tired to go in though – that can wait to another day.The iconic pastel-painted houses you also see in every picture of Cinque TerreThe yacht marinaLa Spezia, from our ferry from Portovenere
It was a lovely walk, but a lot of rocks to scramble over. We are certainly going to exercise our leg muscles here!
My husband, Mark, and I have just sold our house and are taking a year out to have an adventure before we settle down to retirement. We decided on a journey through Italy as it has the perfect combination of good weather, interesting history, great wine and wonderful ice-cream! As we will be starting our journey in January, we are beginning in the very south of the country.
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2 thoughts on “From the Mist to the Sun – A Walk to Portovenere”
Looks fantastic! Not surprised that the vegetation is lush with all the rain. Just to make you feel better-it’s rained (on and off!) for the past four days!
Yes, we’ve been reading about all the wet weather you’ve been having. I bet the government’s glad to have the focus taken off Brexit for a little while.
Tortoise Travel 
Looks fantastic! Not surprised that the vegetation is lush with all the rain. Just to make you feel better-it’s rained (on and off!) for the past four days!
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Yes, we’ve been reading about all the wet weather you’ve been having. I bet the government’s glad to have the focus taken off Brexit for a little while.
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