The Cinque Terre hiking route, popular with so many tourists both Italian and foreign, will be one way over the coming weekend. Hikers will only be able to walk from Monterosso to Vernazza, not in the opposite direction.
As Italy braces for huge numbers of tourists over a long weekend that revolves around 25th April, commemorated as Liberation Day, the Cinque Terre National Park has decided to put in a mandatory one-way on the cliff walk between Monterosso and Vernazza.
Millions of Italians will be on holiday, adding to the overcrowding expected from foreign tourists, many of whom have the Cinque Terre on their bucket lists.
Hikers who want to tackle the Cinque Terre’s celebrated “sentiero azzurro” or blue footpath will have to start in the village of Monterosso and head east towards the hamlet of Vernazza.
Hikers cannot do the walk the other way round. Police and national park officials will man checkpoints along the route.
The restrictions apply on 25th – 28th April inclusive, as well as 1st May. Information on the footpaths is on the Park’s website.
Tourists will also have to pay €15 to embark on the hike.
“We are trying to manage the influx of people on the paths so as to protect the environment of the area and also the safety of visitors,” said Donatella Bianchi, the head of the national park authority.
Tourists were “often disappointed” by the crowds they encountered on the footpaths that link the villages, she said.
Cinque Terre National Park – finalist for 2024 European Natura 2000 Award
The Cinque Terre National Park is a finalist for the 2024 European Natura 2000 Award.
Voting is open until April 25, 2024, on the dedicated Natura 2000 Award webpage of the European Commission’s website
The Park is in the “Marine Conservation” category. This is due to the work on the marine reintroduction project of the algae forest Ericaria amentacea, biodiversity reservoirs, effective in oxygen production and CO2 absorption.
