Italian StairMaster: Hiking the Cinque Terre

Hiking the Cinque Terre was one of the many highlights of our anniversary trip to Italy! I’m Michelle May, M.D., author of the Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat book series, and my husband is Chef Owen May, owner of Chef with Benefits®. We traveled throughout Italy to explore mindful eating and take culinary and wine courses.

We are back on U.S. soil, trying to sustain the relaxed yet engaged state of mind that travel brings. We hope these posts will inspire you to bring that same mindset to your kitchen and your life. Buon Appetito!

Hiking the Cinque Terre

They (whoever “they” are) say Europeans walk everywhere. I don’t know if that’s really true (generalizations rarely are), but Owen and I love to walk and hike when we travel.

We know it’s great exercise, but that’s just a fringe benefit. We love experiencing the scenery from a different vantage point.

Our first hike in Italy was the Cinque Terre, five quaint villages on the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera connected by beautiful trails.

We took a train from Florence to Monterosso where our hotel was located. (The photo above was taken looking back at Monterosso on the first leg of our hike.)

The next morning, we got up early for our hike because it was late June and already hot and humid. This picture of these stone steps out of Monterosso shows why I dubbed the trail an “Italian StairMaster” – the first of many! At nearly two hours, this was the longest leg of our hike.

We were rewarded with this amazing view of the second village, Vernazza.

There was a deadly flood that caused serious damage to Vernazza just five months later, filling this port and the town with mud. Fortunately, they have since rebuilt the town.

After a lovely breakfast and cappucino in Vernazza, we hit the trail again to Corniglia. I loved the narrow streets lined with tiny shops. We had our first gelato in Italy here too!

The next leg of the trail was closed due to a mud slide so we caught the train to Manarola. (You can see a photo below of Manarola taken from the ferry on our way back.)

The path along the water (not many stairs this time!) from Manarola to Riomaggiore is known as Via dell’Amore because it was once a lovers’ lane for the boys and girls to meet between the two towns.

Now it’s sweetly decorated with ribbons, padlocks, and graffiti by couples professing their commitment to one another.

The perfect ending to our Cinque Terre hike

We had a late lunch overlooking the water in Riomaggiore. We enjoyed regional white wine and focaccia with buffalo mozzarella and pesto (pesto originated in this region of Italy). This simple meal was one of the best we had in Italy (and there were many!)

You know I don’t believe in exercising to “earn” the right to eat. This was simply the perfect ending to a perfect morning.

A different point of view

After six hours of hiking, a fabulous lunch, and a glass of wine, we’d had enough. We caught the ferry back to Monterosso so we could enjoy retracing our trail from the relaxing vantage point of the ferry deck.

(We have a jigsaw puzzle that looks like my photo of Manarola taken from the ferry.)

While hiking Cinque Terre was one of the highlights, everywhere we went in Italy, there were natural opportunities for movement.

With exercise like this, who needs a gym? I took a series of photographs I call “Italian StairMasters and Treadmills.” Check them out on our Facebook page!

This article has been updated from a previously published version.

Enjoyed this article? Here are three more to help you:

The Italian Treadmill: Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Mindful Eating on Vacation – Ask Am I Hungry?

Sensuous Eating: Make eating a multisensory experience