Church bells echoed through the sunny piazza as I plopped down on a stone bench, digging my plastic spoon into a cup of basil gelato.  I’d hiked about 5 miles that morning. I had another 5 to go. A mound of ice cream felt like a fitting reward for reaching the halfway point of my trek in Italy’s famed Cinque Terre.

The “Five Lands” — which, like everything, sounds less sexy in English — are a collection of photogenic medieval villages tucked along the country’s rugged northwest coast. Less than 4,000 people live in these five remote towns — Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore — that attract roughly 4 million tourists a year. Visitors flock to this part of northwest Italy by train and ferry, each chasing their own version of la dolce vita, the sweet life.