About a year ago, on a whim, I signed up for a Road Scholar group tour entitled “Hiking the Cinque Terre.” I had been researching the possibility of hiking the trails of the “Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre” for a few years. It was one of those places that immediately attracted me when I first heard of the trail that connects the five villages along this rugged coast. At the time I signed up for the group tour, my husband was not interested in flying overseas. Group tours do not usually excite me. I prefer the spontaneity of traveling without a set schedule or according to someone else’s schedule. But, since I would be flying solo on this one, I decided to take a chance on a tour group.

I was apprehensive about hiking with a group of people and, particularly, strangers. I generally like to hike on my own or with just a couple of people and prefer to set my own pace – allowing for breaks for photography or plant hunting – as I desire. So, it would be a challenge to alter my hiking style and I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it.

On October 11, 2025, I boarded a plane at Boston’s Logan Airport and headed to Pisa, Italy via a lay-over in Frankfurt, Germany. I arrived a day earlier than the program start date due to requesting a better flight and therefore I had to book an Air BandB at my own expense for the first night. Since I had booked the flights through Road Scholar, they provided the transport from Pisa to our program location in Le Grazie and I just needed to meet the group the next morning back at the airport. My bed and breakfast was walking distance to the airport and this all went well without a hitch!

We arrived in Le Grazie on October 12, 2025 late morning and checked into our rooms at the Hotel della Baia. We would use this hotel as our home base for our daily hiking excursions through the Cinque Terre region. The hotel was absolutely wonderful. My room was on the ground floor and included a small patio facing the harbor. As a solo traveler, I did pay for a double room as part of my overall fee for the trip even though I was a single occupant. But, it was worth it to me to have my own space at the end of a long day of hiking. As an self-described introvert, I need that alone time to decompress! Since the program did not officially start until 6pm (with a lecture and group dinner,) we were free to explore the small village of Le Grazie on our own for the afternoon.

After unloading my baggage in the room, I was anxious to walk around the village! It was such a vibrant, blue sky kind of day and warm and I’d never seen anything like the architecture visible from the bus as we entered the town. I needed to see it up close and personal! Across the side street from the hotel, there is a wide pedestrian walkway and it extends all the way around the harbor.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny Sunday afternoon and the waterfront was alive with people enjoying the weather and sun-bathing along the water. It was almost shocking to see people in such skimpy beach attire soaking up the sun! Clearly, Europeans are not as body conscious as us Americans! And, with all the hype about skin cancer in the U.S., I’m not used to seeing people sun-bathing with such abandon! I walked from the hotel along the waterfront past small parks and all the way to the opposite side of the harbor.

I noticed a small alley way that led to an ancient Roman archaeological site – Villa romana del Varignano Vecchio – and followed it uphill to see what it was. It was closed when I arrived and I would not get another opportunity to explore it. It was the site of the oldest olive oil mill in the province of Liguria.

I walked along the narrow path that skirted the perimeter of the ruins until I reached a dead end. It was good to just stretch my legs after the long flight and bus ride to Le Grazie!

At the dead end, I turned around and made my way back to the narrow alley way and started back down to the harbor. Part way down, I noticed an open gate on my right and decided to see what lay beyond! To my surprise, it was a cemetery! If you’ve seen previous posts of mine, you know I am fascinated with cemeteries and love to explore them. I wandered around through multiple terraces of stone memorials thinking that it would lead to the church I had seen from the harbor. I never saw a connection to the church but it was a lovely spot and the view of the harbor was spectacular.

Back down by the harbor, I found the entrance path that lead to the church – Santuario di Nostra Signora delle Grazie – Sanctuary of our Lady of Grace. Parts of the church and cloister date to the 1500’s – oh my! What was once part of a convent is now perhaps private housing?? I could not really tell the present day purpose of the attached building.. but it was simplistic in design and appealing to the eye. More about the history of the church can be found here.

After walking around the church, it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for our opening lecture and first group dinner at the hotel. Throughout the week, we enjoyed a complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel prior to our daily excursions. It was by far the best buffet breakfast I’ve ever had in any hotel I’ve stayed in – daily offerings of mouth-watering scrambled eggs, an assortment of fresh fruit, traditional pastries, yogurt, granola, local jams – and all you can eat. We did consume several evening meals at the hotel as well that were equally tasty!