Riomaggiore - Montenero Sanctuary circular route

The starting point is at the train station of Riomaggiore. In the little square in front of the station, you will be already on the SVA (Sentiero Verde Azzurro, or Green and Blue Trail) route. Walk through the tunnel and walk uphill along the main street up to Lavaccio. Here, you will cross the road open to vehicles and take the ancient Via Crucis, a cobbled path. Keep walking uphill, you will cross Via Litoranea and you will reach the Santuario di Montenero (Montenero Sanctuary). 

On the upstream side of the square, the trail continues towards a place called Telegrafo (Telegraph). After about 10 minutes, you will get to a fork: here you will leave the SVA trail turning right behind and keep walking straight on a short path leading to route 530.

Now, you will go down to the left (in direction of Volastra). Walk through a couple of sharp bends and, as the road becomes unpaved, keep walking up to the fork with route 501. Here, you will go downhill towards Riomaggiore by the steep and narrow route 501. This route goes through abandoned fields, reaches Via Litoranea and crosses it. After a short stretch, you will arrive to the Castello di Riomaggiore (Castle of Riomaggiore) and from there you will go downhill and reach the station and the church square.