Free Walking Tour Riomaggiore: Harbour to Via dell'Amore

Your Riomaggiore Walking Tour, Stop by Stop, Harbour to Cliff Path

1. 1

   Riomaggiore Harbour

   

   Begin at the water. The harbour, the waterfront and the boat landing together are the easiest place in Riomaggiore to be: no gate, no ticket, no closing time, open to you at any hour of any day. That is exactly why the walk starts here. Later the route meets two places that charge entry, so you set off from one that asks nothing of you.

   Give yourself a few minutes at sea level before you commit to the hill. Everything that follows climbs away from this spot, and the next time you see the sea this close will be on the cliff path at the very end.

   The pier also holds the first decision of the day, and it has nothing to do with the route. Boat tours and ferry tickets are sold here by their own operators, each separately, and none of them belongs to this walk. Seeing the village from the water is a separate purchase on a separate plan. For a first visit, the sensible call is to leave the boats for another time: the money worth thinking about today is the ticket for the castle and the coast path, which buys you something the free part of the walk cannot.

   From here the first leg is the long one: 2250 m and about 44 minutes, climbing steadily out of the village. On the way you pass Riomaggiore Cemetery before the mule track takes you up to the sanctuary.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Website

   navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it ↗

   Location

   Riomaggiore Harbour on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montenero

   

   You have earned this one. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montenero stands at 340 metres above the sea, and to this day you can only reach it on foot, along a mule track that leaves the provincial road. It is one of the five sanctuaries of the Cinque Terre, a pilgrim circuit that also includes Our Lady of Health at Volastra, Our Lady of Grace and Our Lady of Reggio above Vernazza, and Our Lady of Soviore above Monterosso.

   The written record begins in 1335, but local tradition reaches much further back. According to the story, a young woman named Maria del Paladino saw the Virgin here in 790, and the people of Riomaggiore built a first small place of worship on the spot. Its first treasure, so the tradition says, was a Byzantine icon of the Madonna of Saint Luke. To save it from the Lombards it was buried in a secret place and only found again later, before it was finally lost in the 15th century.

   What you see today is the result of two big rebuilds, in 1740 and again in 1847, which changed the original structure and gave the church its three naves. The lost icon was replaced by a small painting of the Assumption of Mary with the apostles, restored in 1947 and still carried in procession on Pentecost Monday.

   Entry is free, and it is worth going in. Look for the 18th century fresco by the painter Battaglia of Castelnuovo Magra and the organ from 1899, built by the Agati-Tronci workshop of Pistoia. If you care about church art or simply want a quiet half hour after the climb, this is your place on the route.

   From the sanctuary you head back towards the village: 2350 m and about 37 minutes to the castle, passing the Museum of Memory on the way.

   Local name

   Santuario di Nostra Signora di Montenero

   Hours

   Daily: 09:00–18:00

   Price

   Free

   Website

   parconazionale5terre.it ↗

   Location

   Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montenero on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Castello di Riomaggiore

   

   The Castello di Riomaggiore sits in the upper part of the old village, and its shape is easy to read: a square block with two thick, squat round towers. It was built for defence, but its later lives are just as interesting as its military one.

   The first fortification here dates to 1260, put up by the Turcotti marquises, lords of the village of Ripalta near Borghetto di Vara, on the ruins of an older site on the hill of Cerricò that locals called the castellazzo. After a period under Count Nicolò Fieschi, the Republic of Genoa completed a new castle between the 15th and 16th centuries, on the ridge that separates the valley of the Rio Maggiore from the valley of the Rio Finale. Stand by the walls and you can see why: the castle watches over both sides at once.

   Then came Napoleon. Under French rule and the Ligurian Republic the inside of the fortress was filled with earth and turned into the village cemetery, a very practical use for a castle that no longer had to defend anything. Only at the end of the 20th century was the whole complex restored, and today the municipality uses it as a conference hall and cultural centre.

   The castle charges entry and is sold together with the Via dell'Amore and the Cinque Terre Trekking Card. If you are walking the coast path anyway, go inside; if you are on the free version of this walk, the towers and walls from outside already tell most of the story.

   From here it is only 940 m and about 15 minutes to the start of the Via dell'Amore, the gentlest leg of the day.

   Hours

   Daily Jun–Sep 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–19:00; Oct–May 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:00

   Price

   From 10.00 EUR (combined with Via dell'Amore + Cinque Terre Trekking Card 1 day); single admission historically 2.00 EUR / VR 4.00 EUR

   Website

   visitriomaggiore.it ↗

   Location

   Castello di Riomaggiore on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Via dell'Amore

   

   The finale is a path carved straight into the cliff. The Via dell'Amore, Via de l'Amô in Ligurian, is a pedestrian way about thirty metres above the sea that links Riomaggiore with Manarola over a little more than a kilometre. It is wide, paved and lined with a railing, and it belongs to the Cinque Terre National Park and to the area listed by UNESCO as World Heritage.

   Its recent history is a story of the cliff fighting back. A landslide in 2012 closed it; in 2015 only a short stretch reopened. The full path opened again on 26 July 2024, closed once more at the end of that year after another landslide damaged a tunnel and the protective nets, and reopened on 14 February 2025, Valentine's Day, which suits a path with this name.

   The Via dell'Amore is the first piece of trail number 2, the Sentiero Azzurro, which runs along the coast through all five villages from Riomaggiore to Monterosso. It is the trail most walkers choose, a gentler alternative to the Alta Via ridge path, trail number 1, which runs from Portovenere to Levanto with around 500 metres of climbing. The Via dell'Amore is the easiest stretch of the Sentiero Azzurro; further on the trail turns into a real mule track that needs proper shoes.

   Entry requires a ticket, the same one that covers the castle; small children up to three and disabled visitors go free. After the climb to Montenero, this is your reward: walk it slowly and let it carry you into Manarola, where the next free walking route begins.

   Hours

   29 Mar 2026 – 24 Oct 2026 daily 09:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30); 26 Oct – 28 Mar daily 09:00–19:00 (or 18:00 winter schedule, last entry 30 min before closing)

   Price

   From 10.00 EUR (Via dell'Amore + Trekking Card 1 day; 2 days from 17.00 EUR, 3 days from 23.50 EUR; Train Card 1 day from 22.00 EUR); free for children 0-3 and disabled visitors

   Location

   Via dell'Amore on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Riomaggiore

The full route is the recommended one, but the climb and the two tickets are what you can adjust.

Free hill walk without tickets

Stops: 1, 2, 3

For walkers who want history and height without paying entry: harbour, sanctuary and the castle from outside. That is 1 h 36 min minus the last leg, so 1 h 21 min of walking, and the only interior you visit is the free sanctuary.

Castle and coast path only

Stops: 3, 4

For a short visit or tired legs: skip the climb, start at the castle in the upper village and walk 15 minutes to the Via dell'Amore. Both sites need a ticket, and one combined ticket covers them.

The full route

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4

For a half day with good shoes: all four stops, 1 h 36 min of walking, the sanctuary free, castle and Via dell'Amore with a ticket.

How Long This Riomaggiore Tour Takes, Climb Included

The pure walking time is 1 h 36 min, and almost half of it is the first leg up to the sanctuary. Add time at the harbour, half an hour inside the sanctuary, about the same at the castle and an unhurried walk along the Via dell'Amore, and you arrive at roughly three and a half hours.

The free hill walk without tickets takes a little over two hours with the visits. The castle and coast path combination fits into about an hour and a quarter, most of it on the cliff path itself.

Before You Start Your Riomaggiore Walk

• Start and finish: The recommended start is Riomaggiore Harbour, and the walk ends at the Via dell'Amore, which continues to Manarola. You can join at any stop if you arrive elsewhere.
• Best time of day: Do the climb to the sanctuary while you are fresh and keep the coast path for the end, so the walk closes with the sea instead of a hill.
• Tickets: The harbour and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montenero are free. The Castello di Riomaggiore and the Via dell'Amore charge entry; current prices and opening times are listed with each stop.
• Boats: Boat tours and ferries at the harbour are run and sold by their own operators and are not part of this walk.

Common Questions about Walking Riomaggiore