National park status has spared the area from a propagation of T-shirt shops and tacky souvenir stands, and saved it from environmental destruction. Cars and motorbikes are not allowed in the villages, which are connected by train (each about five minutes apart, mostly through tunnels). In the villages, electric buses scale the sheer streets. Park authorities close walking paths when numbers become too great, so it’s best to arrive in the cool and relative calm of the early morning.
The creation of the national park has also protected the Cinque Terre’s villagers’ well-being, providing them with free health screenings, natural medicine, subsidised child care and a free shopping service for the elderly. A co-op has been set up for farmers to profitably grow basil, garlic and pine nuts to produce local pesto. You can taste it in village restaurants, along with the area’s white wines, freshly caught fish and sweet local lemons.