Tourists banned from walking Italy’s Cinque Terre coastline in flip-flops and could be fined £2,000

Tourists are banned from walking Italy’s famous Cinque Terre coastline in flip-flops and could be fined up to £2,000 for breaking the law

  • Tourists have been targeted for not wearing appropriate footwear on the coast
  • Mountain rescue teams have had to save people not kitted for the craggy terrain
  • The Cinque Terre national park authority will dish out fines to offenders
  • They will start at £40 and rise to more than £2,000 based on cost to rescuers 

Tourists are banned from walking Italy’s famous Cinque Terre coastline in flip-flops and could be fined up to £2,000 if they break the law.

The decision has been made after mountain rescue units complained of hikers who get caught out with inappropriate footwear on the craggy terrain in Liguria.

Bosses at the picturesque national park will crack down on those who do not heed their advice with fines starting at £40 and rising to £2,000. 

The stunning coastline of Cinque Terre is a centuries old collection of villages along the Italian Riviera

Tourists flock to the craggy terrain in the summer months, but authorities are sick of dealing with those ill-equipped to deal with the land

Tourists flock to the craggy terrain in the summer months, but authorities are sick of dealing with those ill-equipped to deal with the land

The sum used to penalise offenders will be defined by the trouble they have caused to rescue workers, The Telegraph reported.

‘We are adopting a measure together with the forestry and the mayors’, Patrizio Scarpellini, director of the Cinque Terre park told TGCOM24, ‘it will be a gradual introduction, first with information and then with sanctions.’

The crackdown comes as the tourist season is set to come into full swing next month with thousands flocking to Cinque Terre.

Last year Club Alpino Italiano – a hiking club who volunteer on the mountain – said they had to rush to help a German family trapped on the craggy peaks with a pram.

La Spezia in Liguaria, part of Cinque Terre, at sunset during the summer - coastal paths around the town are as treacherous as they are gorgeous

La Spezia in Liguaria, part of Cinque Terre, at sunset during the summer – coastal paths around the town are as treacherous as they are gorgeous

Boats head out into the Mediterranean on a sunny afternoon on the Italian Riviera

Boats head out into the Mediterranean on a sunny afternoon on the Italian Riviera

The club’s head Maurizio Cattani told TGCOM24, ‘These are alpine paths, tourists cannot come in slippers and without water – we need caution.

Cruise ships bring tourists from across the world, as do trains which run round the stunning coastal path.

There has been debate in recent years over whether to close off certain paths as the footfall could be damaging the unique environment.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk