This is the most famous and spectacular path. It was made, over the centuries, by those who used it to move from one village to another and in many parts it is a mule track. Although anybody can take the walk one must remember that the ground can be slippery and, in places, the path is steep and narrow. Take care. The path from Riomaggiore to Monterosso is 12 km long and reaches a height of 200 metres at Prevo, a small but interesting locality near Vernazza. The itinerary is mostly made up of paths (8 km), and mule tracks (2 km) while the remaining kilometres are made up of the Via dell'Amore and streets inside the villages. This is the La Spezia's C.A.I. n°2 path but is best known as the 'sentiero azzurro' (sky-blue path) The entire itinerary is marked by a white stripe and sky-blue stripe. Besides the Via dell'Amore which dates back to the Thirties, the path is ancient and was well-known at the time of the Republic of Genoa, when Vernazza was the main docking bay of the area. It takes five hours to complete the path, which has a difference in height between the lowest and highest point of five hundred metres. Remember that the estimated completion time doubles if one visits the villages. Ideally, one should take a few days to do the itinerary stopping at each village.

IMPORTANT: to walk on path 2 one has to pay a ticket ( daily) of Eur 5.00/person. As alternative we suggest to purchase the "Cinque Terre Card"

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Right now ( may 2011 ) the blue path is closed between Manarola and Corniglia due to a huge landslide and it will likely remain closed for the entire touristic season 2011. An alternative hiking itinerary to reach Corniglia is Manarola ->Volastra on path number 6 and than Volastra->Corniglia on the 6/D. total completion time 120-150 min