SESTRI LEVANTE - Just north of Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast, Sestri Levante, known for its beaches, was a welcome respite from rigorous hiking. We arrived in time for sunset. CNS Photo by Lori Weisburg. The words of advice the night before from our guide, Marina, echoed in my head. "We are here to enjoy ourselves," she had reminded our group of 14, her words spoken deliberately in a lilting Italian accent. "This is not a race. It is not a competition. We are here to observe the landscape, to enjoy the food." Then she paused and grew more serious. "Both Vincenzo (our tour manager) and I are trained in a first aid course, but the responsibility of this walk rests with you." Now, all I could hear as I struggled to keep up with our group were my own recriminations. What was I thinking when I signed my husband, J.W., and me up for daylong hikes through the rugged hillsides of the Cinque Terre? Sure, I had read the brochure, which described the daily outings as "seven to nine miles per day of moderate walking with some challenging ups and downs." Still, visions of panoramic views, charming fishing villages and daily doses of pasta dressed with creamy pesto beckoned. No matter that I never walked more than two or three miles a day during my pre-vacation training. Our trip long since over, I'm happy to report that J.W. and I did indeed survive our six-day walking tour, and by the end of the week we had become hiking converts. Sore muscles and, at times, bruised egos were a small price to pay for the spectacular landscapes, lavish meals, seaside lodging and the invigorating walks that endeared us to northwestern Italy. ALTERNATIVE ROUTES Organized by The Wayfarers, a tour company based in England, our trip was an ideal way to explore coastal Liguria, wedged between the French Riviera and the Tuscan coast and home to Italy's Riviera di Levante. Although the Wayfarers describe the tour as a visit to Cinque Terre, the walks extend beyond the "five lands" to encompass other parts of the Italian Riviera, including the towns of Portovenere, Portofino, Rapallo and Santa Margherita. The centuries-old villages of Cinque Terre (described in Medieval times as the "five castles") seem to cling precariously to rocky hillsides overlooking the sapphire sea below. Once you visit this area, you'll understand why Cinque Terre has become a beloved destination for tourists, especially hikers, who can traverse the five connecting towns within a day. While heavily visited - roughly 2 million tourists come each year - Cinque Terre is a national park and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, helping keep intact the region's historic charm and rich landscape. Once only accessible by sea, the villages are now linked by various trails, including the Sentiero Azzurro (blue trail), an ancient coastal footpath that is roughly eight miles long. You can also reach each village by train. STAR OF THE TRIP - Homemade ravioli with porcini mushrooms was a favorite dish on the trip. CNS Photo by Lori Weisburg. The trails, some more treacherous than others, can become heavily congested, even during the offseason as hikers try to pass one another while navigating very narrow pathways. (One of our more enchanting encounters was with two older men who had just finished foraging for wild mushrooms and, with a little prodding, deigned to show us their treasure.) What I especially liked about the Wayfarers tour was that we did not always follow the traditional Cinque Terre routes, but instead were led on hikes, often free of other walkers, that exposed us to the varied terrain and climate of the region. PORTOVENERE BEGINNINGS J.W. and I rendezvoused with the rest of our group in Portovenere, a small town just south of Cinque Terre that we reached by train and bus after a visit to Tuscany. Because our appointed meeting time wasn't until dinner, we explored the town on our own, charmed by the romance of the village, with its colorful waterfront homes painted in shades of ochre, gray, sienna and peach. We walked along a rocky seaside path and caught a view of the Gulf of the Poets, so named because Lord Byron and Shelley are said to have raced each other across the gulf. Once our group met later that day, Marina, who works in an architect's office in Milan during the offseason, introduced us to our week ahead and gave us a quick briefing on the area we'd be visiting, where Roman legions once marched along the paths we'd follow the next day. "All the coast," she told us, "has this mountain chain that protects the area from the wind of the north. You can find vineyards and olive trees. We're really in a micro-climate." By the next morning, it wasn't long before we experienced what Marina had described. A van took us to our starting point, from which we would make our way to Riomaggiore, the southernmost village of Cinque Terre. We drove along a curving, narrow road lined with lush foliage and chestnut trees, oaks and pines as we ascended higher and higher. Once we were in the interior of the region, it became much cooler and wetter than the coast. On this morning, the sky alternated between bright blue with scattered clouds to gray and threatening. Marina pointed out small openings carved out of the mountainside, remnants of World War II bunkers. Once we completed the first exhausting uphill climb from Corniglia, we made our way closer to the coast and began to detect signs of a more Mediterranean climate: cactuses, terraced vineyards and lemon trees. PASSING BY - Trails in Cinque Terre can often become congested during high season. CNS Photo by Lori Weisburg. Because of my inexperience as a hiker, I constantly focused on the rocky, steep path we traversed, careful not to twist an ankle on the uneven terrain. Marina sternly told me that my walking shoes, although comfortable and sturdy, were not well suited to our hikes. I should have invested, she said, in a pair of hiking boots. As it turned out, my shoes served me well. I looked up at one point to catch an expansive view of the azure sea, illuminated under an almost cloudless sky. The sun created a dazzling effect on the water, sparkling as though a million diamonds were floating on the surface. We stopped briefly near a farmhouse, and J.W. plucked a green grape off a vine. I bit into one, and its sweet juice exploded in my mouth. Nearby were wild blackberries and heather, and, as we approach Riomaggiore, we walked a footpath cushioned with pine needles. We came upon a lush garden landscaped with jasmine, lemon and plum trees and oleander bursting with pink blossoms. FOOD FOR THOUGHT We began our morning expedition at 9:15, and by 1:45 we arrived at our lunch stop, the Lampara trattoria, named for the light, or lampara, that is used to attract the fishermen. We were greeted with a large plate laden with a salad of octopus, tomatoes and greens, anchovies lacquered with olive oil and a choice of pasta with seafood or pesto, a specialty of the Cinque Terre region. Throughout the trip, our meals frequently featured fresh fish and seafood - smoked tuna carpaccio, whitefish, prawns, calamari. But it was the homemade pasta and Ligurian pizza (a double-crusted flat bread prepared with a buttery, flaky dough and stuffed with stracchino, a soft, cows-milk cheese) that seduced me. This was guilt-free dining at its best because, as I rationalized, we walked our calories off every day. My most memorable afternoon followed an especially rigorous morning hike that took us up steep inclines and through wooded areas planted with leafy chestnut trees. At one point during the walk, we were forced to maneuver over and under fallen tree trunks, casualties of a windstorm the week before. Our destination was Montallegro, just north of Rapallo. When we reached our luncheon spot, I was dazzled by the simplicity and beauty of it: a long table positioned under the canopy of a tree, the sea and mountains enveloping us. Platters heaped with mortadella, cotto salami and sweet ham were delivered to our table, but it was the ravioli stuffed with mincemeat dressed in a sauce of porcini mushrooms that still haunts my culinary dreams. I decided then and there that life doesn't get any better than this, and apparently I was not the only one. During our farewell dinner, when each member of our group was asked to recall his or her favorite moment, nearly everyone mentioned the lunch with the mouth-watering ravioli. After completing our meal, we boarded a finucular that took us to the seaside resort of Rapallo. No ride at Disneyland could beat the thrill of this steep descent. MORE THAN A HIKE Throughout our walking tour, it wasn't only our legs that transported us to our destinations. At various times, we traveled by ferry, train, cable car and a Wayfarers support van that was at the ready should we decide to skip an especially grueling hike. On one occasion, a few of us passed up the morning walk of "a thousand steps" from Manarola to Volastra. "If you have vertigo," Marina advised, "don't do it." Because our trip was billed as a walking tour, there was little time to fully explore the towns we visited, nor was there much time for relaxation. Toward the end, when our home base was the charming fishing village of Camogli, some of us would sprint to the beach after one of our hikes to swim in the sea and enjoy the last bit of sun. Our hotel was the lavish Cenobbio dei Doggi, once the summer palace of Genoa's doges, or dukes. It has its own private beach, pool and tennis courts, but the best part was our elegant oceanfront room with its expansive terrace that provided us with an unfettered view of the sea. Each day, as dusk approached, we'd sit outside, watching as the setting sun colored the sky a deep, burnt orange. In addition to the sheer joy of walking through beautiful terrain every day, we frequently were treated to mini history lessons, and Marina was always careful to point out important sites. One interesting side trip came on our last day, when we took a ferry to the tiny medieval village of San Fruttuoso, west of Portofino and within a protected inlet. It's accessible only by foot or boat, which is what we took. There we visited the 13th century Benedictine abbey and afterward relaxed on the pebbly beach. MARANOLA VIEW - Walking through the Cinque Terre region offers many panoramic views. Here is a glimpse of Manarola, one of the five towns, seen during a walk along the Via dell'Amore. CNS Photo by Lori Weisburg. When it came time to leave Liguria and bid farewell to one another, it was obvious that many of us were sorry to leave this enchanting part of Italy. We lightened the mood at our final dinner with a few limericks each of us had been asked to write. Here's one J.W. and I penned: Vincenzo's choices of restaurants were supreme. The pasta, the pesto the affogato a gourmet's dream. If not for Marina always cracking the whip, We'd balloon 20 pounds on this trip. IF YOU GO Getting there: The closest airports to the start of the walking tour in Portovenere are in Milan or Genoa. If you're planning to visit other parts of Italy before the start of the walk, the area is easily reached by train. For our trip, we were asked to meet at the La Spezia train station. The tour: There are many companies that arrange walking tours throughout the world. The Wayfarers, which specializes exclusively in walking vacations, can be reached on the Web at www.thewayfarers.com or by phone at 800-249-4620. The Cinque Terre trip, offered in June and September, is priced at $3,195, including all meals (dinners with wine), six nights lodging and transportation during the trip and a full-time guide. A support van is used to transport luggage and provide transportation along the way. Individuals who don't want to participate in all the walks can take the van to go back to the hotel. The Cinque Terre tour involves seven to nine miles a day of moderate walking. For less-experienced walkers, you should regularly walk at home before the trip and practice walking up hills. What to bring: Hiking boots, hats, sunscreen, sunglasses and waterproof gear are recommended, as are day packs. Walking sticks are not necessary but can be helpful. The Wayfarers provides walkers with bottled water every day, as well as plentiful midmorning snacks. Lodging: Hotels are four-star, and all have sea views. During the trip, sea-view rooms were rotated among those on the tour so everyone got at least one room with a view. For Cinque Terre, there are four hotels. Lori Weisberg is a staff writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune. © Copley News Service

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