My wife and I are back in Rome after spending several days in Cinque Terre National Park. Cinque Terre is situated in northwestern coastal Italy. It is made up of five small towns that are connected by trails and rail. This was a scenic location and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Butterflies were still numerous and I was able to take a few photos of these.

If you are like me, you probably don't know much about this part of the world. I have added a number of habitat shots as well as photos of the villages to give you a feel for the area. The coast seemed quite dry and remnant patches of vegetation looked a little like the chaparral in southern California. The region was hilly and upper slopes were covered with pine-oak forest. Vineyards and olive plantations were numerous everywhere from the coast to the hilltops.

Here is a map that shows the location of Cinque Terre.


We stayed in Corniglia, the smallest of the five towns of Cinque Terre. It was interesting with its old, cobblestone laneways, excellent food and coffee. I don't think anyone makes coffee like the Italians. Our day always began with several shots of espresso and various Italian pastries.

The buildings were all painted in pastel colours that looked particularly nice in the evening. Here are a few shots of Corniglia.






We usually walked for an hour or so each morning to Vernazza. The trail was good and steep in parts so it was great excercise.




Vernazza was a lovely sight in the morning.