Italy’s most romantic spot reopens after 12yrs – but tourists will be watched by ‘chaperones’ under new rules
ITALY’s most intimate spot reopens for holidaymakers – but there’s a catch.
The stunning Via dell’Amore path on the Italian Riviera shut 12 years ago and is reopening as an “open air museum” from Saturday.
“Lovers’ Lane” connects seaside villages Manarola and Riomaggiore around 75 miles away from Genoa, forming a chunk of the Cinque Terre national park.
It appealed to lovebirds as meeting in the Liguria hotspot didn’t require scaling a cliff.
Friends and lovers alike would flock to the route to express their affection using padlocks and sweet graffiti.
But in 2012, officials were prompted to shut access to the well-known path following a landslide.
Now, overtourism plagues the villages connecting the path, so officials are limiting visits to just 4,000 a day.
Tourists must buy tickets for staggered entry and staff on the rugged Italian coastline will be there to monitor affection.
Locals have even reported loved up couples attempting to craft makeshift padlocks by tying a pair of knickers around the rails.
Riomaggiore mayor Fabrizia Pecunia is keen to tackle over tourism as Cinque Terre took in a staggering four million tourists in 2023 despite having fewer than 4,000 residents.
She said: “We’re not doing it to make money. In 2011 it had around 870,000 visitors so we basically want to keep the old numbers but distribute [them] better.”
Cinque Terre, a coastal national park comprised of five fishing villages and rocky cliffs, received a million less visitors the year before.
Pecunia initially wanted to make guided tours mandatory but has since dropped this.
To prep for its opening as an open-air museum on July 26, the path has undergone years of renovation.
The mayor added: “[That staff stationed along the route] “will try to stop people and make them understand the history.”
It will be open for visitors between 8.30am and 7pm over summer but close at 5pm in the winter months.
The Via dell’Amore path will only be open to residents of port city La Spezia for the first two weeks of opening.
Residents will be able to enter for free between 7am and 1pm but tourist visits don’t start until August 9.
Holidaymakers who opt to stay overnight in Manarola and Riomaggiore are entitled to residents’ extra hours if they buy a daytime ticket.
Pecunia hopes the plans will motivate people to book hotels in the villages.
She continued: “We want to incentivise people to stay overnight. If people sleep here, they eat here, they visit other places. We want to give them a unique experience.”
Italy’s tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, said that tourists can “take in all the beauty that our wonderful nation has to offer with a single glance” on the path.
The Via dell’Amore first opened in 1931 after joint efforts by visitors to combat their loneliness prompted them to carve the path.
In the past, they had to scale 600 steps over the cliffs to get between Riomaggiore and Manarola, if they didn’t fancy the train.
The local authority has spent €23 million to renovate the path.
As part of this they’ve removed fragile rocks and installed steel netting to deal with areas prone to landslips.