Exploring Italy by Train

Riomaggiori is arguably the most impressive of the towns, its buildings rising steeply from the ravine that forms the harbor, so that from the water they appear to be stacked on top of each other. We climbed to a crumbling tower at the top of town, entranced by the smell of lemons permeating the air. From here, we could walk to the next town, Manarola, along the Via dell‘Amore, a walkway that hugs the cliffs. It was breathtaking and invigorating. Actually, an experienced hiker can visit all five towns via trails, but that that was a little too ambitious for us! In Manarola, we boarded the train to go on to the next town, Corniglia. The train station here is unbelievably picturesque, being open to the sea and profuse with flowers. I was so entranced by the station, at first I didn’t notice the town, which sat high on a cliff far above us. Faced with hundreds of steps to climb, we decided we didn’t really need to see Corniglia this trip. Boarding the train once again, we went on to Vernazza, a very pretty port. High above town is the Castello Doria, offering sweeping views of the town and coast. Just below the castle is an outdoor restaurant with the same views, and we decided to return there for dinner that night.

In the evening, we set out from Monterosso for the restaurant in nearby Vernazza, anticipating a memorable evening. We hopped the 7:30 train, and were immediately alarmed when the train picked up speed, since our stop was a very short distance away. As the train sped by our destination, I looked more carefully at the schedule only to realize this wasn't one of the local trains that stopped at all the towns. We were headed for La Spezia, about 20 minutes further away. We were not too dismayed, because it would still be early enough to head back to Vernazza for dinner.

The train station in La Spezia has several tracks. The schedule showed our train left from track 1 at 8:15. As the time approached, with no trains in sight on track 1, a muffled announcement came over the loudspeaker on the platform. We heard the words Vernazza and binario cinque, track 5. Suddenly, people were making a mad dash across the tracks to a train further out, and just as we finally realized what the announcement must have said, the train pulled out of the station leaving us standing alone by track 1.

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