If you are planning a visit to the Italian Riviera, consider adding the two charming towns of Lerici and Portovenere to your itinerary.
While the internationally renowned Cinque Terre are spectacular places to visit on the Ligurian coast of Italy, they can be overrun with tourists.
So much so, that stepping onto a carriage in the train that runs between the villages can make a can of sardines seem like a McMansion.
There are other, less crowded towns you can visit on Italy’s Ligurian coast, and Portovenere and Lerici are worth considering if you are planning a Cinque Terre visit: they are nearby, and easily accessed.
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When we visited the Cinque Terre, I wanted a haven to start and end the days, so that we could spend some time in a less touristy part of Liguria.
So I booked us into a hotel in the little town of Lerici, just a few miles away, on the Ligurian coast.
Our time in Lerici and the nearby town of Portovenere was some of the most beautiful and serene we spent in Italy.
Lovely Lerici
Lerici is located on the Golfo dei Poeti (Gulf of Poets), so called because its beauty enticed the likes of Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who had a home near Lerici, and Lord Byron, who lived in Portovenere.
For me, Lerici was like the calm before and after a storm, with barely any tourists and a very relaxed vibe.
Be warned, though: although not yet on the international map, it is very popular with Italians. So it is best to avoid visiting during the European holiday months of July and August, if solitude and serenity are what you desire.
Lerici, and the neighboring town of San Terenzo, offer beautiful coastal walks and sandy beaches (some free, some not). There are opportunities to hike, if you are so inclined, on trails that are much less crowded than those on the Cinque Terre.
Like other Ligurian coastal towns, Lerici has pretty colorful houses overlooking the picturesque harbor, and a magnificent castle that towers over the town and bay.
The town of San Terenzo also has a castle, and the castle-to-castle walk along the water, about two miles each way, is beautiful. From the castle rooftop, you get great views of the bay. It has an elevator, if you do not fancy climbing all those stairs to the top!
We walked a stretch of the promenade, from Lerici Harbor to the start of San Terenzo and back, each morning and evening.
It’s a popular route for the passeggiata, so you will see many locals out enjoying the sea air in the evenings. It is especially pretty after the sun sets and the lights of the towns start to come on.
In Lerici, we enjoyed one of the most memorable meals of our trip to Italy. We had dinner at a small restaurant called Il Frantaio.
It requires a bit of a climb up the narrow Via Cavour to get to this restaurant, but the food is well worth every step of the climb!
My vegetarian trofie pasta with Genovese pesto, made in the region where it originated, was superb.
My husband raved about his seafood platter.
We ended on a warm fruity dessert topped with a crusty crumble that was delicious. We split dessert, and to this day, my husband rues the fact that we didn’t each get our own!
We didn’t get to hike when we visited, but the hike from Lerici to the nearby fishing village of Tellaro through the Parco Naturale Regionale di Montemarcello-Magra-Vara is supposed to be beautiful.
It’s a shaded trail that passes through meadows and olive groves, and offers spectacular views of the water.
On our next visit, exploring places near Lerici, such as Tellaro and Ameglia, is definitely on the agenda!
Pretty Portovenere
From the harbor at Lerici, you can take the ferry across the Golfo dei Poeti to Portovenere. We took the ferry on a beautiful sunny morning, with the waters of the bay sparkling in the light.
Portovenere has a little harbor where fishing boats are anchored.
There is a row of colorful vertical houses along the waterfront, looking out onto the bay. These houses are called la palazzata, and the close vertical design was meant to be a defense for the town.
The waterfront is lined with cafes and shops, and after our exploration of the town, we took an espresso break at an outdoor table at one of the cafes, enjoying the water views and the activity at the little harbor.
The pièce de résistance in terms of sights on Portovenere is the Chiesa di San Pietro, a little Gothic church built on a rock high above the water.
The walkway, with steps, leading up to the church is spectacular, with stone arched windows that offer gorgeous views of the Ligurian Sea.
On the way back, all of the sparkling beauty of the Golfo dei Poeti lies below you as you descend.
Portovenere also has a castle, the Castello Doria, with superb water views, and a second church, the church of San Lorenzo.
There are three islands that you can see from Portovenere: Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, and there is a boat tour from Portovenere that covers the three islands.
Getting to Lerici and Portovenere
Neither Lerici nor Portovenere has a train station. You can get a bus from La Spezia to either of these places.
You can also drive to both towns, park in the designated parking lots, and then explore the towns.
You can also take a ferry from La Spezia or any of the Cinque Terre (except Corniglia) to Portovenere or Lerici.
Ferries also run between Lerici and Portovenere.
Boat ferries generally operate from early April until the end of October.
*****
We really enjoyed our time in Lerici and Portovenere. The laid back vibe and beautiful surroundings make these towns truly appealing destinations if you plan to visit Liguria.
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I always thought I’d stay in Manarola, but you make a great case for Lovely Lerici! It sounds so much less traveled than the towns that are reached by the train stations, and oh that dinner sounds heavenly – I’ll keep in mind what your husband said about no halves on the dessert!
Thanks, Rebecca! Manarola is gorgeous, as are the rest of the Cinque Terre, but I found Lerici charming and relatively serene. And yes, Il Frantaio is a gem!
Love this blog. Italy has so many great places to visit and having been to Sorrento and Positano recently and actually enjoyed Praiano more, I can see a lot of parallels with your time in Cinq Terre. Cheers for this – will definitely use it. Adrian
Thanks so much, Adrian! That sounds like our experience exactly! I hope you visit the Ligurian Coast, it’s beautiful but quite different from the Amalfi Coast.
Thank you Dhara for this informative post. We are hoping to visit Europe again in 2019. Cinque Terre is on my bucket list. With your information I will plan to visit Lerici & portovenere. Your photos are beautiful. The scenery / towns look fabulous. And great to hear there are walks available & not so busy. Just what we want ?? Thanks for sharing the info
Hi Estelle! Thank you so much for stopping by. You will love Lerici and Portovenere for their relatively unspoiled, serene charm. The Cinque Terre are amazing and you will love them all! The Ligurian Coast is a beautiful part of Italy.
Thanks, Bel! These two little towns are definitely worth placing on your itinerary the next time you visit the Ligurian Coast! Relatively much more laid back and just as beautiful as the Cinque Terre!
This is actually a part of Italy that I haven’t discovered yet. And it is because of massa tourisme. I am so glad you give an alternative in the neighbourhour from where you can explore cinque terre and have a place where you still can relax and go to restaurants where they serve the local food and not being overwhelmed by tourist. Great article and beautiful footage!
Thanks, Sarah…it is great to have the best of both! The Cinque Terre are spectacular but Lerici and Portovenere are both amazingly beautiful and not as crowded.
How would you spend a week and a half in Italy? I’d love your input!
On a first visit I would head to Rome for three days, Florence for three and Venice for two days, with the remaining days doing either the Ligurian Coast or the Amalfi Coast. Enjoy!
Hi! I have a question we are planning to rent a car and drive around little towns in italy I read that there aren’t a lot of parking lots in Lerici and Portovenere… Did you have or know about experiences with a car? Do you know if the Ferri that cross from one place to another have the option to cross with your car?
Thanks in advance!
Both Portovenere and Lerici have paid parking lots at the edge of the towns or in Portovenere, you can park in the underground garage. The ferry boats are passenger-only boats, not car ferries. You can drive to the outskirts of all the towns in your car, and use the ferry boat as an additional way to view the Cinque Terre from the water if you like, using any one town as your base.
Thanks for posting this! I’d heard of Portovenere and hope to visit at the end of this year (fingers crossed!) but might also add Lerici. I heard that Cinque Terre is so crowded that it’s not very enjoyable, and I read that you have been to both. Do you think it’s OK to skip Cinque Terre and maybe go to Portovenere instead?
I love your blog, by the way! It’s great to read travel experiences from a fellow history and architecture lover.
Hi Lilly! Thanks for reading! Portovenere and Lerici are both very beautiful and definitely worth visiting, but if you plan to visit off season, and it sounds like you do, then you must also spend a day in the Cinque Terre. The weather may not be perfect, but you will not deal with huge crowds. The five villages are very beautiful!
We are planning a visit to Lerici in May, after 3 nights in Rome and 3 in Florence we thought a couple of nights of relaxation was called for, I am glad we have it scheduled. I would like to see Cinque Terre. Is it better to take a boat from Lerici or drive somewhere a bit closer and take the train? We will have a car.
If you visit when the boat is running, it is a great option. Take the first boat out so you have the maximum sightseeing time. The boat stops at Portovenere before hitting the Cinque Terre and Portovenere is very pretty. The only disadvantage of the ferry is that the schedule limits the length of your sightseeing day (the first ferry does not leave until past 9, although you should check current schedules). If you want to start earlier or finish later in the day, it is better to drive to La Spezia, where you can park at the train station and take the train to the Cinque Terre.