This is the basic idea: a village on the coast and people have carefully built terraces
on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea.
Part of its charm is the lack of visible corporate development.
Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, and cars cannot reach most of them from the outside.

We stayed in La Rossola Resort, which is located outside the park, passed Levanto and
high up in the mountains from Bonassola. It was about a 30 minute drive to Monterosso Al Mare.
The first day we drove here, but noticed how fortunate we were to find a place to park our car,
so on other days we parked in Levanto and took the train into the park. This worked out quite well.
We arrived at Monterosso Al Mare with a modest market going on.

Some bartering going on, I guess.

One market stall with few customers, but she was making the best of it.

The smallest of two churches in Manarola al Mare.

The churches here still bore the ravages of the torrential rains which caused floods and mudslides on October 25, 2011. Nine people were killed by the floods, and extensive damage was caused to the villages, particularly Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. The personification of death looking down on the dilapidated walls fitted rather well.

The beach of Monterosso Al Mare.

Time to consider the trail.. You have to pay a fee (€ 5) at a checkpoint further down.

A walking trail, known as Sentiero Azzurro ('Light Blue Trail'), connects the five villages.
It was time we tried a trail and set out for the hike between Monterossa al Mare to Vernazza.
We found little information available on the particulars of this stretch or others.
We found out the hard way it was one of the toughest hikes. The worst we did, anyway.
But at first it wasn’t so bad.

The trail was steep in some places and we quickly gained height, climbed the seeming endless set of steps.

In many places the trail was like this: small and primitive.
We were wheezing and puffing, struggling with the heat.
We let people pass but we one also had to wait for oncoming traffic.

We also stopped for the view and sights like this, of course.

Vernazza, our goal is in sight.

Vernazza. From up here it is quite captivating. But in the streets (in fact just one main street) of these
villages we found them overrun with tourists. Perhaps september isn’t the best time of year to visit this region.

Witness to the ravages of the torrential rains on 25Oct2011, when floods and mudslides caused so much damage. Imagine to find your house like that!

Vernazza; people enjoying the sun and some cooling wind from sea.

Another day, another village. Riomaggiore.
We had arrived here by train from Levanto. Parking at the trainstation is cheaper and at the station
one can buy a day-ticket for the park, which includes the train fare but also the fare for the trails.
And the local busses, though I forgot about those at the time. Should have used that in Corniglia.

No doubt she is well familiar and used to the steep streets here.

Sandy beaches are rare here, it is a rocky coast.

Manarola, seen from the trail to Corniglia.
This footpath was blocked because of unrepaired flood damages; this was a pity because
this was a flat trail too and quite easy to walk.

We liked Manarola better than Monterossa or Vernazza.
This place was a nice souvenirshop (see also below) and I bought a few English books in a small store nearby,
run by an Australian woman. She told me to try bookdepository.com (free shipping), they should have
a wide range of books. But I haven't tried them yet as I buy a lot secondhand.

In spite of the midday heat, they play football. One even on flip flops…

Dogs are not forgotten here!

The trail to Riomaggiore, Via dell’Amore… easy going, flat and wide.
An easy stroll instead of a tough hike. A bit too easy, actually.

Via dell’Amore and you can see the signs and symbols everywhere!

There seem to be a tradition of putting these locks up, as a sign of ‘locked hearts’. 

To pick a prickly cactus plant to carve a heart and your names in, seems to me an awkward choice!

A nice photo in its simplicity, in my opinion.

Manarola

Manarola

The captain is taking a rest.

Nicely done!

Tickets are not expensive, but some people like to take a chance. Like this man said afterwards to his wife:
"You can always argue with the guy.." She didn’t seem too happy with his approach.

The drive back to Bonassola and onwards to our hotel was a nice one.

The view down on Levanto.

Church in Corniglia. Rather a harrowing statue there.
I think the statue says 'Corniglia. Al Svoi Carvty'.

Inside the church seen on the photo above. The fresco on the ceiling
seems to commemmorate some war battle..?

A cat holding its pose..

Once more at Manarola. Note the path Corniglia - Manarola in the top of the photo.

What do you think this is? Would you have recognised it as a waiting room?

Sailing away from Manarola. Ticket Manarola - Vernazza was 11 euro p.p.

Sailing past Corniglia.

Arriving at Vernazza.

Another way to move from village to village is by kayak..

In Vernazza, at a nice café near the railway station, we had a cappuccino.
A young couple (he was an American) owned and ran the place.
She enjoyed a quiet moment, staring out of the window.
The coffee we had was our closing ceremony, we had a long drive home to contemplate.