Distance travelled: 232km
Total distance: 7106km
Ice cream count: 20

 
We decided not to stop in Genoa after a crazy journey round the town trying to get to our campsite; we almost ended up in the ferry port and navigating the maze of roads with all the crazy drivers, motorbikes and scooters just didn’t seem worth it! Instead we had a nice lazy morning round the van before setting off towards the Cinque Terre.

 

 

Lunch was in beautiful Portofino, a pretty old fishing village reached via a very windy and narrow mountain road. We then headed onto our campsite in Levanto which turned out to be full – not wanting to turn away paying customers, the owner directed us to a terrace at the top of the site on some tent pitches, which would have been perfect if another van with two dogs hadn’t turned up too! Still, it was a nice quiet spot and a good base for a couple of nights.

To see the Cinque Terre we decided to take the train as it stops at all 5 villages and was super easy and reasonably cheap. We started with a train to La Spezia where we took some time to explore the town and wander round the harbour before getting back on the train and choosing (pretty much at random!) two of the 5 villages to stop off at – firstly Riomaggiore, which was a beautiful, brightly coloured fishing village with pink and orange houses nestled into the cliffs around a small harbour, and then Corniglia, a small winding village at the top of hundreds of steps where we had a drink and some nibbles and Griff flirted with anyone and everyone. We also stopped in Levanto for an evening drink before home. Highlight of the evening was sitting outside the van watching fireflies glowing around us – a new experience for both of us and an amazing end to a lovely day.