Moneglia and the Cinque Terre

We’ve been travelling pretty quickly for the last three months. In fact, only once have we spent more than four nights in the same bed! We’ve also been realising how time consuming the logistics of travel can be and we were starting to get behind. So we decided to spend seven nights in a smaller place, where we could have some slower days and get some of our “life admin” done.

We thought that somewhere on the Italian coast near the Cinque Terre would be a good choice. As we were booking last minute there wasn’t much accommodation available, so we took a chance on a small apartment in a village called Moneglia, 20 minutes by train from the Cinque Terre.

Things weren’t looking promising on the train from Nice to Moneglia – we passed lots of unappealing, run-down places. Once we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. The ten minute walk from the train station to our apartment took us right through the town centre. The main street is only about 5 metres wide and is full of cute shops with fresh local produce. Our apartment was basic but spacious and was a great base for the week. We had our own little kitchen and dining room – after three months on the road, it’s been quite a treat to be able to cook proper meals and buy supplies for a whole week! We really enjoyed wandering through town and buying fresh bread, meats, cheese, pasta and wine.

The town was big enough to have a range of shops, but small enough to feel relaxed. The beach was just a few minutes’ walk away and we enjoyed plenty of swims in the 30 degree heat. After the international feel of the hostel in Nice, Moneglia was quite a change. While there were tourists around, they mostly seemed to be Italian and we only heard one other person speaking English the whole week! The owners of our accommodation didn’t seem used to international guests and didn’t speak much English. Try explaining through hand gestures that you want a new tea towel – harder than it sounds! Although we couldn’t communicate much, they were always friendly, smiley and joking around with us. There was a real sense of community around the town – we would often see people talking out their windows to neighbours walking past.

There was a surprising amount going on in Moneglia in the weekend. We went into town one night and found the local church packed to overflowing. Turns out there was a visiting gospel choir! Very cool. There were also some markets and the beach was full of people.

Italians behave a bit differently on the beach to people back home. While we were putting on sunscreen, they were applying tanning oil. It wasn’t just young people either – we even saw some elderly ladies out tanning. People are less body-shy here – people of all kinds of shapes, sizes and ages were walking around in skimpy bikinis and speedos. Also, like in other European counties, toplessness is not seen as a big deal.

We spent one day walking through the Cinque Terre, a group of five villages on the Ligurian coast. It has become a famous tourist destination due to the dramatic beauty of the villages and the accessible walking trails along the coastline. The area is also a traditional wine growing region, so part of the walk is through vineyards clinging to the hillside.

The walk was really beautiful. We enjoyed the views of each village in the distance and how we could then walk straight into them and look around. One of our favourite villages was Vernazza, with a picturesque port and main street.

Another was Manorola, which sits around a cove where people were swimming. Because of the steep cliffs down to the cove, they have a hoist which lets them launch boats from the town above.

One section of the track (between Corniglia and Manorola) was closed while we were there. We took this as an opportunity to climb further up the hillside on some of the less-travelled tracks. This actually turned out to be our favourite part of the day, with some of the best views. There were lots of vineyards on these tracks and we noticed some rails ascending the steep hillside. We later found out that they are tracks for mini-trains that are used for harvesting the grapes. Must be a thrilling ride!

There were serious floods and landslides in the area late in 2011, burying a couple of the villages deep in mud. The towns dug themselves out and repaired the damage. We didn’t see much sign of the landslides, except for some destroyed houses near Vernazza.

The whole day’s walk took about seven hours (including breaks and the diversion off the main track). Here are some more photos from the Cinque Terre. The turquoise and deep blue water looked amazing alongside the earthy palate of the Mediterranean houses.

Our favourite walk while we were in Moneglia was actually somewhere else entirely. Instead of heading back to the Cinque Terre for another day to try some other tracks, we decided to go to the regional park of Portofino, just 40 minutes by train from Moneglia.

Our route would take us from the town of Camogli, around the coast to Batterie (a German WWII fortification) and down to the beachfront abbey at San Fruttuoso. From there, we would climb to Piette Strette and then descend down the hill into the town of Santa Margharita Ligure. We decided on this route based on this helpful website.

The coast between San Rocco and San Fruttuoso was incredible, with sheer cliffs dropping hundreds of metres into the sea. Some parts of the track have chains fixed to the rock, which were needed to help navigate the most rugged sections. Not a route for anyone with a fear of heights!

The gun emplacements at Batterie were installed by the Axis powers in World War II. As you might expect, they had great views.

It was around midday when we reached San Fruttuoso and it was HOT! Going for a swim in the cool, clear water was simply amazing.

The walk back, over the hill to Santa Margharita Ligure, was less spectacular but still an enjoyable track. We descended the hill through pine forest with views down to the town. The track then took us through olive groves and past semi-rural homesteads before reaching the town and the train station home. Our day at Portofino was relaxed, taking just 6.5 hours (including a long lunch and swim).

At the end of our week, we are a little sad to be moving on. We really enjoyed slowing down the pace for a while and getting to know one place a little better. We would highly recommend Moneglia if you’re looking for a friendly, relaxed spot in Italy with some awesome walks nearby. Having managed to get some rest and catch up with our to-do list, we’re now moving on to some of Italy’s most famous cities – Florence, Venice and then Rome.

Comments from WordPress

• Beth Braddock 2012-09-14T01:12:31Z

  My goodness, you call all that walking a relaxing week! Oh, what it is to be young. Looks wonderful Craig. I missed Italy but will get there one day.

  I liked smaller places when I was travelling: they provide a respite from the crowds and pressure of “must see, must see” big name attractions. Nice also to see that summer really does still exist somewhere in the World. I’m a bit sick of rain and cloud here. cheers Beth

• Craig and Sal 2012-10-02T06:55:33Z

  Hey Beth, great to hear from you. Yes we’re realising how much we enjoy smaller and more outdoorsy destinations. We’ll be walking in Innsbruck, Austria and Nepal in the next couple of months and will also be trying to find more destinations like Moneglia. Hope you and the OLC team are going well :-)

• Nic, Nise, Fi and Rory 2012-09-16T07:35:36Z

  Hi Sal and Craig,

  Love the hot babe with the rope (Craig you’re looking tanned!). We’ve just had an awesome weekend establishing our position as favourite cousins to Rory. Loving reading your blog, keep the photos of the hot babes coming.

  Lots of Love Nic, Nise, Fi and Rory who’s just gone to bed

• Richard Harker 2012-09-16T10:11:38Z

  Just been catching up with your adventures from Edinburgh to Italy :) Looks amazing! Thanks for keeping the blog updated - I’m really enjoying following along.

• Leonie 2012-09-19T07:11:25Z

  I love it! The Cinque Terre was one of my favourite places last time around, although it was raining the whole day and we had to train most of it. Fantastic stories, photos and unexpected experiances come from these random unplanned trips. Keep up the awesome posts and adventures :)

• Alice 2012-09-19T08:54:27Z

  Che bello! Vorrei tantissimo andare a Cinque Terre! Its one of the places I missed out on with time and expense. But Italy is one of those places cram packed full of beautiful, diverse, scenic areas. Next time! Love the photos and stories! Keep ‘em coming! xx

• The end. | Craig and Sal Go Global 2013-06-30T02:00:39Z

  […] Moneglia, Italy […]

• Jackie 2013-08-27T17:40:30Z

  Your blog and photos are amazing! I will be spending 4 days in Moneglia early in September and I absolutely cannot wait (further reinforced by reading about your experiences)! Thank you:)

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson