cinque terre natural park Cinque Terre - Discover Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre National Park is a protected area made a national park in 1999, which is located in Liguria, in the province of La Spezia, and includes, in addition to the territory of the three towns of the Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore, Vernazza and Monterosso), a portion of the common Levanto (Punta Masco) and La Spezia (Campiglia Tramonti). The park can be divided into two parts: the coastal area, the actual National Park and the marina area, the Natural Protected Marine Area. The park, established in 1999, has the distinction of being the only one in Italy aimed at the protection of a cultural landscape: among the aims figure in fact the preservation of the terraces and stone walls that support them. The park protects a coastal area where man has created a stable life and mutual co-existence between himself and nature. The villages and terraced with dry stone walls are immersed in a typical Mediterranean coastal environment where the mountains reach the Ligurian Apennines overlooking the sea creating a unique environment. At the same time the park was established on Natural Protected Marine Area of ​​the Cinque Terre between Punta Masco west and Punta di Montenero east. The reserve is intended to protect the biodiversity of flora and fauna that, given the rocky structure of the coast, have, already at shallow depths, special uncommon in the rest of the Mediterranean.

How to reach the Park

By train
 The railway stations of the Cinque Terre are situated on the Tyrrhenian line Genova - Rome. Should get off at the station of La Spezia Centrale and then take regional trains. The races have considerable frequency, especially during the summer season.

By car
 To get to Riomaggiore exit at S. Stefano Magra La Spezia-A12, or on the Autobahn A15 for those arriving from Parma. Merge onto the SP32 (previously SS370) called the Cinque Terre Resort through the five boroughs. After Riomaggiore in fact continuing on the coast road you will come across below the junction that goes down to Manarola, then Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare finally. To get to Monterosso should instead go out to the highway exit to A12 and then continue in the direction of Levanto.

From the sea
 During the tourist season a scheduled boat service runs regularly between the villages of Monterosso, Vernazza and Riomaggiore to Portovenere, which is connected with La Spezia and Lerici.

Walk
 There are two main paths that reach and cross the National Park of Cinque Terre, La Spezia both reported by the section of the CAI. The best known is the ridge trail number 1, known as Alta Via delle Cinque Terre, from which you can reach the villages of the Cinque Terre through one of the trails that descend to cross the sea following the secondary ridges or valleys bounded by them. Then there is the coastal path number 2, known as the Blue Trail, which connects Riomaggiore to Monterosso through all the villages of the Cinque Terre and taking in the section between Riomaggiore