My second stop is Manarola. Perched on a steep cliff and surrounded by lush terraced vineyards, it is characterized by colorful houses and very narrow alleys. Once out of the train, I turn left inside the gallery getting to the main street. Here, if you turn left you will reach the sea; if you turn right, instead, you will reach the old church and the hill with wonderful terraces landscape.
Walking through the main street heading to the sea, I can see many typical ligurian wooden boat called “gozzo”, and the high “tower-houses” with its bright colored façade. On the right side of the small harbor, I walk along the second part of the “blue path”, following the cliff, unfortunately also this part to Corniglia at the moment is closed.
Anyway, along the path you can take very beautiful pictures of Manarola ( pic n. 1 ), and you can have a drink at “Nessun Dorma” restaurant with breathtaking view on the village. Got back to the main street walking uphill, I reach the old church of “San Lorenzo”, dated 1338 DC. A few meters from the church, you can see a small sign marking the path to Volastra hamlet, this path is very scenic, you walk uphill throughout the terraced vineyard. Once in Volastra you have 2 options: the first is to take the bus and go back to Manarola, the second is to walk toward Corniglia. If you do not want to walk, close to the San Lorenzo church, you can also decide to take the bus to Volastra and do the path downhill.
After a couple of hours here, it’s time to move to Corniglia. After leaving the station, I have to walk for about 20 minutes and climb 382 steps before getting to Corniglia.
It’s a small village perched on a hundred feet high hill, surrounded by terraced fields and the only one village with no access to the sea. At the end of the steps, under a strong sun, I reach the main square where a local small market takes place.
On the right side, following the asphalt, it starts the “blue path” heading to Vernazza. I decide to take a stroll through the narrow alleys, and after visiting the church “Oratorio dei Disciplinati”, with its old paintings, I reach the terrace on the cliff at the edge of the village, where the view on the sea is very nice. After a short rest, I go back to the railway station waiting for the train, to Vernazza (my favorite village!).
