Walking in the Cinque Terre and Portofino

All the organisation ahead of our holiday was excellent. The hotel in Sestri Levante was a gem. Magda, Santo and all the team were so welcoming and friendly there were hugs and even moist eyes when we left. Santo’s dinners were excellent and we ate at the hotel beyond the three arranged nights at a very reasonable price. A free laundry room and a roof terrace with clothes horses was a great help. Rooms are fairly basic but spotless and comfortable. The hotel is well located for the station and exploring the town.
The Cinque Terre is a popular area for walkers and the five towns are very busy with tourists. Some of the paths were fairly busy and would be more so in high season. The walk notes are copious and route finding very easy. I would suggest the walks might be graded tough rather than moderate, there are many very steep sections which are less path and more rock climbing. A fair bit of hands, knees and bottom especially on descents. Trains are not as frequent as might be hoped!

The Cinque Terre walks are challenging and a certain level of fitness is required. The first walk on the itinerary is particularly challenging in terms of length, elevation and terrain and resulted in us changing the order of walks for balance. Having to use public transport to get around was not a problem and the routes generally took us to places worth seeing. The hospitality and food in Liguria was very good and there was little problem in finding gluten free options as required.

The Cinque Terre has some challenging walking and beautiful scenery. Unfortunately it is overly touristic (during the period we were there the local villages received some 40000 visitors per day) so village locations were impassable – walking routes not so much. This uncomfortable but also difficult as all transport is by rail, many trains being full to overflowing with daytrippers and also travellers with full baggage. Sestri Levante was a very pleasant and manageable base, and the hotel friendly and professional

Another well organised trip that went smoothly and according to plan.

Everything went smoothly and it was an excellent holiday

We had a wonderful holiday despite the rain, the walks were fantastic and we loved using the GPS app. We felt we had had good communication regarding our trip and everything ran very smoothly. The hotel was perfect for this type of holiday.

Good organisation. Kept informed about the trip and any changes. Queries were always answered. Staff were friendly and very helpful.

The holiday was well organised from beginning to end

I was delighted with my holiday, from my first conversation with Hannah everything was arranged smoothly and efficiently. All details were communicated promptly, all enquiries answered knowledgeably, all Staff were so friendly and made booking with Headwater as easy as it was possible to be.

All the organisation ahead of our holiday was excellent. The hotel in Sestri Levante was a gem. Magda, Santo and all the team were so welcoming and friendly there were hugs and even moist eyes when we left. Santo’s dinners were excellent and we ate at the hotel beyond the three arranged nights at a very reasonable price. A free laundry room and a roof terrace with clothes horses was a great help. Rooms are fairly basic but spotless and comfortable. The hotel is well located for the station and exploring the town.
The Cinque Terre is a popular area for walkers and the five towns are very busy with tourists. Some of the paths were fairly busy and would be more so in high season. The walk notes are copious and route finding very easy. I would suggest the walks might be graded tough rather than moderate, there are many very steep sections which are less path and more rock climbing. A fair bit of hands, knees and bottom especially on descents. Trains are not as frequent as might be hoped!