We love hiking with our kids when we travel, so during our month-long family trip to Italy, we knew hiking Cinque Terre with kids was something we wanted to make happen. With five colourful coastal villages, steep terraced hillsides, sea views and a network of walking trails between the towns, Cinque Terre is exactly the kind of place our family loves.
That said, hiking in Cinque Terre with kids is not quite as simple as showing up and walking from village to village. Many of the Cinque Terre hiking trails are steep, uneven and exposed, and some are much better suited to older kids or younger children in a backpack carrier. We visited Cinque Terre with our two kids, who were 1 and 3 at the time, so we had to plan our hikes carefully and be realistic about what would work for our family.
For us, the effort was well worth it. The villages themselves are beautiful, but the hiking trails above Cinque Terre reward you with incredible coastal views. Walking between the villages also gave us a much better feel for the landscape, from the stone staircases and vineyard terraces to the quiet viewpoints above the Ligurian Sea.
In this guide, we’ll share what it was really like hiking Cinque Terre with kids, including where we stayed, which trails we hiked, what gear made the biggest difference, and what we’d recommend for other families planning a visit. You’ll also find honest tips on trail difficulty, using the train between villages, hiking with a toddler, and how to make your hiking trip to Cinque Terre the best it can be.
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What to Know Before Hiking Cinque Terre with Kids
Cinque Terre is one of the most memorable places to visit on a family trip to Italy, and for good reason. This UNESCO World Heritage area is made up of five colourful villages tucked between the coastline and steep mountains: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.
Each village is beautiful in its own way, but one of the best ways to experience Cinque Terre is by hiking the trails between them. The paths take you above the villages, through terraced hillsides and along coastal viewpoints, giving you a completely different perspective than you get from the streets below. For families who enjoy hiking, it’s one of the most rewarding parts of visiting Cinque Terre.
Cinque Terre Card, Trains and Trail Access
You’ll need a Cinque Terre Card for many of the main hiking trails in the park. We recommend the Cinque Terre Treno Card, which includes access to the paid trail sections, village buses and unlimited regional train travel on the La Spezia to Levanto line, which includes the five Cinque Terre villages.
The terms “SVA” and “Blue Trail” refer to the main coastal hiking route between the five Cinque Terre villages.
Watch for the Red/White/Red trail markers which signify you are on a main Cinque Terre hiking trail (the SVA or a secondary path).
Hiking Cinque Terre Safety Tip
There are route location signs along the Cinque Terre hiking trails, which help identify your location to authorities in case of emergency.
Cinque Terre Hiking Gear for Kids and Toddlers
Hiking with kids is a great thing to do on a family vacation to Italy. Thankfully, you don’t need a lot of extra gear to enjoy hiking Cinque Terre with kids:
To carry our kids we used the Deuter Kid Comfort 3 hiking backpack carrier. We like this carrier so much that we bought one for each child. Having these carriers with us allowed us to enjoy some of the harder Cinque Terre hikes while letting our kids come along for the ride.
If your child is under two, airlines typically let you bring the backpack carrier as your ‘baby item’ in lieu of a stroller. We’ve brought ours to Japan, Italy and Norway as a ‘baby item’ on our flights and have never been charged extra. Learn more about flying with a backpack carrier.
The Deuter backpack carriers have a compartment to store a hydration bladder, which is a convenient way to carry larger amounts of water for the family.
Before you head out, read our best tips for hiking with kids and see what we actually pack in our guide to hiking gear for kids.
AllTrails Hiking Maps
At home and around the world, we use the AllTrails hiking app to help us find and stay on the right hiking trail. We like how easy it is to get the Cinque Terre hiking maps right on your phone and how your phone’s GPS will track your current location relative to your hiking trails.
The Cinque Terre hiking maps and elevation charts shown below are from our AllTrails GPS data imported into Google Earth.
AllTrails is a recent App of the Year winner. Enjoy map downloads and many more premium features with a 7-day free trial of AllTrails Peak!
Best Cinque Terre Hikes with Kids
Over the five days we spent hiking around Cinque Terre with our kids, we hiked the connecting routes we’d planned between Levanto and Riomaggiore, including the harder inland alternatives where the easier coastal sections were closed. We didn’t do the coastal hikes in one straight line or direction, but rather in the sequence which worked best for us.
Each of these Cinque Terre hikes was a half-day event, which left the other half of the day to enjoy the beautiful villages of the region.
Corniglia to Vernazza Hike via SVA
In Corniglia, the hard work begins even before you get to the trailhead! Corniglia is not at sea level, which makes it unique among the five Cinque Terre villages.
Guess where the Corniglia train station is? Yup, sea level! In order to get from the Corniglia train station to the town, you’ll need to climb roughly 370 steps up.
We finished climbing the stairs at 9 am and Corniglia seemed nearly deserted. This was a great time for taking pictures, as the Cinque Terre villages typically get much busier later in the day.
The 90 minute Corniglia to Vernazza hike was approximately 6.4 km / 4 miles in length with roughly 550 m / 1,800 feet of cumulative elevation gain.
Hiking northwest towards Vernazza in the morning was a good choice as the sun was at our backs and not in our eyes. The trail is a mix of steps and dirt and there are picnic tables halfway through.
Manarola to Corniglia Hike via Volastra (#506, 586 and 587)
The Cinque Terre hike between Manarola and Corniglia was hard. It was a reasonably short 7.4 km / 4.6 miles in length, but the 730 m / 2,400 feet of cumulative elevation gain made it challenging enough that it took us 3 hours to complete. The path consists of a lot of steps and uneven rocks, so be sure to wear proper hiking shoes.
There was a lot of variation in scenery on this Cinque Terre hike from Manarola to Corniglia, which made it quite enjoyable. There were vineyards, olive groves, forests, sweeping views of the towns and epic ocean views.
The little sanctuary hamlet of Volastra is very charming and makes for a nice rest stop along the way. Sections of Cinque Terre trail #586 are flat enough with gravel paths that toddlers could get out of their backpack carriers and walk, just keep them away from the edge!
Riomaggiore to Manarola Hike via 531
At the time of our family trip to Cinque Terre, the famous coastal hike Via dell’Amore (“The Way of Love”) between Riomaggiore and Manarola was closed due to a 2016 landslide. The Via dell’Amore has since reopened, but access is regulated. Individual visitors need a reservation for a specific date and 30-minute time slot.
The hike we enjoyed instead of the Via dell’Amore was very steep uphill with steps that were quite high. There wasn’t even any flat stretches at the top of the climb, it basically goes straight up and then straight down again. The downhill hike to Manarola was really challenging. It was steep, with staggered, ad hoc rock steps.
One of our favorite moments on our trip to Italy with kids happened on this hike. Italians love kids and were so friendly towards our kids during our entire family vacation to Italy.
In this example of Italian hospitality, we were hiking through a patch of lemon groves when we were flagged down by a local farmer who used a mix of Italian and body language to beckon us back to his farm. He cut two lemons off the trees, one for each child. They were so happy! And so were we as we made an incredible lemon pasta dish for dinner that night!
The Riomaggiore to Manarola hike is hard and won’t be for everyone. It took us approximately 90 minutes to complete the 1.9 km / 1.2 mile hike, with 275 m / 900 feet of cumulative elevation gain.
To be honest, the views were not very rewarding on this Cinque Terre hike as there were no real stretches of pathway where you can leisurely walk and enjoy the view. Due to the nature of this trail, you are always looking down at your footing. I’d recommend hiking the Via dell’Amore instead.
Monterosso to Vernazza Hike via SVA
Given it was cloudy this day, we decided to hike south-east from Monterosso to Vernazza as we didn’t need to worry about the sun in our eyes.
The beginning part of this Cinque Terre hike was steep with many steps, although they were “real” steps and weren’t too hard. After the steep climb, the hiking trail levelled off. There were many stretches where a well-behaved toddler could easily walk, but never for too long.
The Cinque Terre hike between Monterosso and Vernazza is mostly through vineyards and trees and offers good views of both towns. The stretches of level pathway allowed us to enjoy the amazing Italian coastal scenery, instead of looking at our feet.
This hike was approximately 4.8 km / 3 miles long with 660 m / 2,160 feet of cumulative elevation gain. It took us approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete the hike.
It started to rain just before we finished and we could tell how slippery the rocks would get if it was really wet, so be careful if it’s a rainy day.
New Trail Regulations
We’ve learned that since our trip to Cinque Terre with kids, there have been some new regulations put in place for high visitation dates. On these days the park applies a one-way system on the Monterosso to Vernazza section from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Check the official trail network before choosing your direction.
Levanto to Monterosso Hike via SVA
We hadn’t intended on doing the full SVA hike from Levanto to Monterosso, but as we got going, it felt wrong for us to turn around, so we decided to do the full length.
It starts with well-formed stairs leading to a paved road, eventually transitioning to a nice, reasonably smooth dirt trail. After five full days of hiking Cinque Terre with kids, I’m glad to report that you don’t ever get tired of the world-class scenery.
At the beginning of this Cinque Terre hike, the views looking back at Levanto and beyond are really quite nice. The hiking trail also offers nice views of the beautiful blue water along the coastline. There are stretches where a well behaved toddler could easily walk, but most of the hike would be too difficult for them.
There are stretches where the path goes through a beautiful, dense forest. The hiking trail becomes rocky and uneven close to the turn at the top of the cape. The descent into Monterosso was mostly on steps, but it transitions to paved road near the town.
This 7.2 km / 4.5 mile hike with 640 m / 2,100 feet of cumulative elevation gain took us roughly 2.5 hours.
Cycling in Cinque Terre
If you are looking for things to do in Cinque Terre with kids outside of hiking, check out this kid-friendly bike ride from Levanto to Framura. We loved it and it was a really nice break from all the hiking.
Where to Stay in Cinque Terre with Kids
With five Cinque Terre villages to choose from, finding the right place to stay is a bit more work than usual.
We chose to stay in Monterosso al Mare with our kids. It has good train connections, an excellent playground and a long stretch of beach. Monterosso isn’t as charming as the other Cinque Terre towns, but we chose it for better train connectivity, grocery stores and its great playground.
We rented a two-bedroom vacation home rental at the northern end of Monterosso al Mare. We chose to stay at a vacation home rental as we enjoy the family-friendly amenities like separate bedrooms, a kitchen and laundry facilities.
If hotels are more your style, we personally use and recommend using Booking as their Top Picks for Families search filter makes it easy to find good family-friendly accommodation.
Follow Along on our Family Trip to Italy
Hiking Cinque Terre with kids ranks up there with the most beautiful hiking experiences we’ve ever had as a family. Many of the hiking trails are not overly kid-friendly, but we made it fun for everyone with our backpack carriers.
We hope you enjoyed reading about our experiences hiking in Cinque Terre. If you’d like to follow along on our Italy itinerary with kids, we arrived in Cinque Terre after a week in Elba with kids. After Cinque Terre, we stopped for a quick visit to Pisa with kids, before continuing on to visit Lucca with kids.
We are so grateful we could go hiking in Cinque Terre with our kids. We hope your family trip is as rewarding!
Our Travel Journal for Kids
Based on our family travels, our kids helped us design this Travel Journal for Active Kids! This engaging travel journal encourages kids to document their adventures, spark creativity, and stay entertained on the go – grab yours now on Amazon!
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