The Italian Riviera and the Cinque Terre

Thank you France for a lovely three weeks, it's been a lot of fun.

See you again in July . . . . and now . . . . . .

Welcome to Italy! First Stops, the Riviera and the Cinque Terre

As we bumped along the main road from the motorway to the coast, memories of a similar trip in 1979 came flooding back!  The cross border motorway was lovely, sailing past the Alps, still frosted with snow, and no reminder of the old border by way of even a deserted checkpoint, simply a sign: Italia.

Then we exited the motorway!

A bumpy 20 minutes later we were rattling along the Italian Riviera, marvelling at the serried ranks of sunbeds and parasols on the franchised sections of beach. The drive along here, whilst slow, gives you a feel for another immediate difference from France; the architecture, with Liguria's rather ostentatious style of building in hues of ochres and pinks.

Almost immediately, we began to see height barriers and restrictions on campervan parking, so we pulled over for a cuppa to assess our options and decided to head to a campsite just back from the coast near Albenga.

Journey planning and a cup of tea!

We arrived in a little haven of flowers, birds and quirkiness, at an old campsite, Bella Vista, started in 1976 by a Dutch couple and now run by their daughter. It was here that we spent a day swimming in the peaceful pool and planning the first week in this new land!

First stop was the Cinque Terre, a UNESCO world heritage site; five little villages perched on the cliffs of an absolutely stunning coastline! We arrived after a tortuous but scenic drive, with hairpin after hairpin through a series of tiny villages and only just behind the Italian Giro (bike ride) that day! Stalls were already setting up celebratory barbeques in the villages and we were pretty relieved not to have been caught up in it. The campsite we tried at Levanto was full, so we wound our way along to the first village, Monterosso and were lucky enough to get an overnight camperstop in the small carpark on the harbour for €23 (okay, a bit pricey for a car park, but such a relief to find somewhere!)  As it turned out, not only did our parking spot have beautiful views along the coast, it had a handy little rocky platform close by, designed just for  admiring the view with wine and olives whilst watching a passing dolphin!

Next morning, after a peaceful sleep to the sound of the sea, we were perfectly placed to walk the coast path to the second of the villages, Vernazza, a breathtaking (in all senses!) morning, taking about two hours to climb the steep steps and paths out of Monterosso and walk the 3.5kms along the cliffs.

The next village, Corniglia, is another two hours away and we had to get back by 4pm, so we settled on lunch at the harbour in Vernazza, a delicious pizza followed by icecreams, what else for our first lunch out in Italy, and caught the train back (a train links all 5 villages). There's also a boat that chugs along to four of them, picking up and dropping off passengers all day apart from a couple of hours at lunchtime.

Then we set off along the coast to just beyond La Spezia for an overnight campsite stop.

We left a grey Liguria behind the next morning. This stretch of coast is pretty grim, even on a sunny day, with manicured beaches, muddy sand and murky waters, a world away from the Cinque Terre.  As the morning and miles gathered pace, the sun came out to welcome us into Tuscany.

J.