Walking the Via Dell’Amore to Manarola in Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre on the Ligurian Coast of Italy has some of the most spectacular coastline that I have seen, and the five tiny villages that make up Cinque Terre cling to little coves in the steep cliffs of this beautiful coastline. Probably the best way to explore this region is by walking the trails between the villages, which at the longest is still only a couple of kilometres. We had spent the past couple of days exploring Cinque Terre by ferry, train and on foot between the villages, and now only had one more village to explore – Manarola.

In the morning we had caught the ferry from Monterosso al Mare to the beautiful village of Riomaggiore, and had decided to get to Manarola via the shortest and easiest walk on Cinque Terre – Via Dell’Amore, which roughly translates to Lovers Walk. Since we were on our honeymoon at the time, this sounded ideal.

From above the village of Riomaggiore, Via Dell’Amore is a fairly flat paved path that clings to the typical steep coastline of this region. When we reached a gate that had a pair of hearts with love locks on it, I knew that we must be on the right track.

Spectacular coastline at the start of Via Dell’Amore

Love locks on the gate at the start of the walk

Hand in hand, Veronika and I walked along the path while other couples did the same. The views were breathtaking, which I had now become accustomed to here on the Cinque Terre. All along the path, where ever there was a spot available, there were padlocks that couples had placed as a symbol of their love for each other. When we entered into a beautiful tunnel with windowed views to the ocean, we found ourselves at the “Love Seat”, which is built in the shape of two people embraced in a kiss, and it is completed surrounded by hundreds of love locks. Despite the graffiti on the seat, this is a very romantic spot.

Looking back towards Riomaggiore, with Via Dell’Amore carved into the coastline

View of a yacht behind a huge cactus flower

The Love Seat surrounded by love locks

Sharing a honeymoon kiss on Via Dell’Amore

The rest of the trail clung to the cliffs as we made our way to Manarola, finishing at the train station which we bypassed to head into the village to look around.

A couple places a love lock on Via Dell’Amore

A ristorante with a great view near Manarola

Manarola Train Station

Manarola is another beautiful little village, with interesting shops, cafes and colourful boats lining it’s main street. We walked down through town to the harbour, which has no beach, but instead has some interesting rock pools which would be great for swimming. We caught the train back to Monterosso, ending an amazing few days in Cinque Terre.

The main street in Manarola

Rock pools in Manarola’s harbour

Via Dell’Amore is the perfect path to take a romantic stroll with your partner in Cinque Terre, in possibly the most romantic country in the world. I think it would be very difficult to have a bad honeymoon in Italy.