From La Spezia to Monterosso al Mare, about 60 km of narrow, typically Ligurian, beautiful roads. The motorcycle? The ideal vehicle to enjoy stunning views and be able to immortalize it in every corner, along the roadside to don’t lose the villages perched on the rocks, vineyards in the typical terracing cultivations both tiring and amazing and the immense blue between a village and the other, framing a landscape that has been declared together with Portovenere and Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, World Heritage since 1997.
Along the coastal road, the panoramic road, you will meet one behind the other the five Ligurian jewels, isolated from each other, set between the rock and the sea, the villages of the Cinque Terre are united by the breathtaking beauty but each is unique and can give you different emotions.
The high coast descends over the sea and a series of winding curves let you glimpse the first village: Riomaggiore.
A bunch of houses seem ready to roll in the sea, the marina, the Church. The first stop is already exciting and it’s just a taste of the wonder that awaits us.
Let’s go back to the panoramic road, the terracing around, describe the hard work of the farmers to cultivate this land torn to the sea; vineyards cultivated with great ability and patience.
It is the area of Volastra that is full of vineyards. Here is the production of the precious Sciacchetrà wine, DOC wine since 1973, golden yellow with amber reflections, sweet, pleasant, a true nectar.
A characteristic name, which comes from the local term “sciacàa” that means crush, press the grape.
It is composed of vineyards of Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino, a wine made from the laying of these grapes on shrubs in shaded and ventilated areas for at least two months, crushing and getting out , the name itself explains the way this rarity is produced.
The Sciacchetrà combines, if still young, with typical Ligurian cakes, when ageing is superior the ideal is to taste it in purity. The Sciacchetrà with the Vermentino DOC of Cinque Terre, the dry white wine you find in all the houses and restaurants in the area, are the typical wines of this land.
The microclimate, the combination of rock and sea, the sun, the low vineyards, the brave vintners, here are the elements that make these wines unique. And we can’t forget that some vineyards can only be reached by the rack train, here the wine is a real achievement!
Wineries, and farms offer you the opportunity to taste an excellent glass of wine perhaps combined with fresh fish dishes or to buy a bottle as a souvenir of this wonderful land!
And getting lost in the vineyards is easy, they seem to be looking out over their terraces looking out over the sea. But it is time to go down to the second village: Manarola. we find once again the small houses lined up in a row to the sea, the gray of the Gothic church of San Lorenzo, the marina, the charm. And we are already trying to find out about the next village. Still climb up the main road and then down to Corniglia. A thick forest, then the village, the only one that does not roll over to the sea but dominates it. Here we enjoy the meeting between earth and sea, nature is all here.
We continue to reach Vernazza.
The narrow lanes of the village lead us to the marina. Vernazza is a real pearl. The Church, the loggia, the houses, the colonnade and the “Castrum” that protects all this beauty.
Leaving this place is a pity. These villages, with their relax, require a time of contemplation but another stage is waiting for us to finish our tour.
Here is the last stretch of the road, for the last time we enjoy the asphalt that leads us to the sea that is here protected from a bay with a wider beach. Once again a village enchanted, less difficult than others, for this reason also frequented by many families.
We take our time to admire the beauty of these places, a few miles slow and nostalgic. Still one look at the sea and one at the vineyards then we can return back to La Spezia in the direction of Pignone, the road is wider, we leave the peaceful rhythm of the Cinque Terre, but not the images of these places, we will always bring them with us.
