Cinque Terre Hiking Trip – Day 6

October 17, 2025 – Riomaggiore to Porto Venere

Today is our last day of hiking in the Cinque Terre. The schedule will vary depending on individual choices. The hike today is split up into two sections – a morning hike from Riomaggiore to the small hamlet of Campiglia – and – an afternoon hike from Campiglia to Porto Venere. The total hiking distance is about 7.5 miles, our longest trek of the trip. The morning hike is rated as moderate while the afternoon portion is listed as challenging due to the steep decline over less stable trail conditions.

For those who prefer to skip the afternoon hike, our private vans will pick them up in Campiglia and transport them to Le Grazie where they have free time to explore or shop in nearby Porto Venere. I chose to complete the whole hike and keep walking!

In the morning, our motor coach dropped us off at the trailhead that leads to the Santuario di Nostra Signora di Montenero. From this spot, it is a steep climb via stone steps (what else!) up to the santuary.

The views looking back towards the Ligurian Sea were spectacular as were the terraced vineyards.

Once we reached the top and the Sanctuary of Montenero, we took a water break and had a chance to take some photographs.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montenero dates to the 1300’s and is only accessible via foot. It is a Catholic Church and monastery and is part of the “route of the sanctuaries” that starts in Monterosso at Our Lady of Soviore church and passes by the sanctuaries of Our Lady of Grace and Our Lady of Reggio in Vernazza before leading to the Shrine of Our Lady of Health in Volastra and, finally, to Our Lady of Montenero.

The next portion of the hike took us through more vineyards, forest trails and a short, steep section before reaching the small settlement of Campiglia.

One of the coolest parts of this hike was passing by some stone masons who were working on rebuilding part of a terrace wall. They are true artists!!

We passed by an ancient church on the way to our next stop – a restaurant perched high up on the hills overlooking the sea.

There was a private property adjacent to the trail here that appears to be an organic farm and vineyard called Stella Di Lemmen. What a beautiful spot for a farm!

The trail continued with gentle ups and downs until we reached the restaurant where we could take a restroom break and enjoy a small snack or drink. The restaurant is called the Colle Del Telegrafo and it was a pleasant place to hang out for a spell.

With a snack and bathroom break completed, we continued on to Campiglia, where we would eat lunch and the group would split up – some preferring to return to Porto Venere and some continuing on for an afternoon of hiking. Our hotel packed us a picnic lunch so we did not have to purchase lunch in Campiglia although there were a couple of places to grab a bite to eat in this small village.

Some scenes on the trail from the restaurant to Campiglia:

Our regular hiking guide Boris had to take the day off, so we had a new-to-us guide for our last day of hiking. She stopped below to explain to us why we kept seeing all these feathers on the forested trail here. Apparently, there is a popular “bird shooting” sport in parts of Italy and, although it is not permitted in the Cinque Terre National Park, the section of the trail we were now on is outside the park. We were seeing the remnants of this sport in the form of feathers by the side of the trail.

Once we arrived in Campiglia, it was time to eat our picnic lunch and chill for a bit in preparation for our afternoon hike. It is a sweet little village at the end of the road!

We were able to use the restroom facilities at this nice restaurant with loads of outdoor seating.

I did pop into a small market just to see what they were selling and I sort of wish I had gotten lunch here!!

It was time to continue our walk and there was much talk about how steep and uneven the trail would be between here and our destination of Porto Venere. We said goodbye to those who were boarding the vans back to town and they wished us well on our challenging hike. It really was not much different than trails I’ve hiked back here – some rocky parts with loose stone, narrow and uneven dirt paths and steep descents – definitely not as challenging as I expected. The views descending down into Porto Venere were stunning!!

Below is an example of the “loose” rock we had to manuveur on our way down.

The final part of our hike brought us around the Castello Doria and into the heart of the town of Porto Venere.

And the last stone steps of the whole trip – I think, I hope?!

The next day is our last of the trip and it will be a rest day and a time to do some sightseeing in Tuscany – visiting the historic city of Sarzana, the medieval Fosdinovo Castle and a working vineyard high up in the hills of Tuscany. Until then!