On Sunday we drove west, stopping at Lucca for some supermarket shopping. We had booked in for two nights at Camping Valdeiva, near the coast at Deiva Marina. The campsite ran a free shuttle to the town’s railway station which gave us easy access to the area’s major attraction – the Cinque Terre National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apart from some world class coastal hiking routes, Cinque Terre consists of five towns built in to the cliffs along the coast: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Each town has it’s own train station but we decided to see just three on our one day visit.

In Manarola the houses climb up the cliffs on both sides as you walk down the main street towards the sea. There were plenty of folks sunbathing on the rocks and even a few in the water. There was a path along the headland which gave access to some spectacular views back to the town.

Vernazza was similar but had a larger town square at the waterfront as well as the only safe harbour in the national park. I had to stop for ice cream and Sue tried the Lemon Granita which was a little sharper than expected!

Our last stop was Monterosso, which had all the vibes of a small seaside beach resort. We had a very pleasant lunch overlooking the beach. The food, seafood and pasta, was delicious especially the fresh anchovies.

As a train enthusiast I’m sad I’ve just missed the opening (at last!) of the Elizabeth Line in London however there seem to be a few things the Italians could teach us, for example – double decker trains running through 19th century tunnels! And how about positioning stations as close as this to the sea?

Tomorrow we start the long journey home – it’s really sad to be leaving such a beautiful part of the world – but heres to the next trip!