Cinque Terre introduces one-way hiking path

Italian cities and regions continue experimenting with creative proposals to curb overtourism effects

Cinque Terre National Park is one of Italy’s premier tourism destinations, which attracts millions of visitors every year with its cliff-hugging and colourful fishing villages. This, however, is also part of the problem as the region is now also starting to feel the impact of overtourism, such as crowding on the nature trails in peak seasons.

That’s why, for the start of the new hiking season, which will coincide with a grouping of holidays, such as 25 April (Liberation Day) and 1 May (International Workers’ Day), the park management has decided to make one of the hiking paths accessible only in one direction.

The one-way trail in question will be the one linking Monterosso to Vernazza, which is known as the Verde Azzurro footpath (Green Blue footpath). The restriction will apply on 25, 26, 27, 28 April and 1 May, in the hours between 9 am and 2 pm, which are the busiest. 

What’s the expected result?

According to Donatella Bianchi, head of the park authority, the reason to introduce a one-way footpath is to better manage the influx of hikers, increase their safety and lessen the impact on the environment.

Control from Monterosso (which will be the start of the route) will be done at the entrance to the Verde Azzurro path, with two checkpoints, one near the historic centre towards Punta Corone and the other near the Park information point.  On the Vernazza side, the facilities will be distributed along the three access points to the path in the main street of the town (Via Roma) and at the Park information point, in Lama.

What’s more, apart from the one-way path, another measure to control the crowds will be the entrance fee to the path, which will be set at 15 euros per person.

These rules might also apply for the weekend of 4 and 5 May, but that is yet to be confirmed.