Alta Via delle Cinque Terre (High Trail)
While the coastal Blue Trail attracts thousands of day-trippers, the Alta Via delle Cinque Terre traces the ridge of the Ligurian Apennines high above the villages, passing through chestnut forests, abandoned hamlets and panoramic saddles with views stretching from Corsica to the Apuan Alps on a clear day. It is one of Italy's most rewarding long-distance walks and almost nobody on the coast below
The Route and Logistics
The Alta Via runs approximately 38 km from Levanto in the north to Portovenere in the south, typically walked over two to three days with overnight stops in the agriturismi of Soviore, Volastra or Biassa. Day-walkers can access the ridge from any of the five villages via steep connecting paths: from Vernazza the path to Prevo takes about 90 minutes; from Manarola the path to Volastra takes 45 minutes.
The trail is waymarked with red-and-white CAI (Club Alpino Italiano) blazes and is generally in better condition than the lower coastal paths. Navigation is straightforward in clear weather but can be tricky in the frequent sea mist that rolls in from the west — download the CAI trail maps on the Outdooractive app before you go.
What Makes It Special
At altitude the landscape changes completely: the terraced vineyards give way to ancient chestnut groves, wild boar rootings in the leaf litter, and meadows of asphodel and cistus. The silence is striking after the noise of the coastal villages. At the saddle of Termine, between Vernazza and Corniglia, you get a simultaneous view of both the Ligurian Sea to the west and the Po Valley haze to the east.
The hamlet of Volastra, perched at 340 metres above Manarola, has a 12th-century church, a tiny bar serving cold beer and a terrace that looks straight down onto the village and harbour below. It's the ideal lunch stop on a ridge walk and the kind of place that makes you want to cancel your hotel in the village and stay up here instead.
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