Liguria Coastal Road

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. La Spezia

   La Spezia is a naval city at the head of a deep bay, and it is not trying to charm you. About eighty-eight thousand people live here, the Italian navy has a major base on the waterfront, and the port handles container ships and ferries. That makes it a practical place: big enough for fuel, garages, banks and a proper supermarket, and the starting point for the Cinque Terre, which lie just along the coast to the west. Many travellers pass through here without stopping, but the town has a pleasant seafront promenade and a market with excellent produce.

   Read the complete La Spezia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   La Spezia is where the day begins. Next is Portovenere.

2. 2. Portovenere

   Portovenere stands at the tip of a rocky peninsula at the southern end of the Ligurian coast, where the cliffs finish in a narrow point facing the island of Palmaria. It is a village of tall, narrow houses painted in faded yellow, pink and ochre, with a fortified waterfront that looks like a wall of colour from the sea. At the end of the point, on a rock above the waves, stands the black-and-white church of San Pietro, a Gothic building from the late twelfth century, built on the site of an earlier temple. The name itself means Port of Venus, and the old goddess seems to have been on good terms with the sailors.

   Read the complete Portovenere write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Portovenere comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Levanto.

3. 3. Levanto

   Levanto is the quiet neighbour of the Cinque Terre, close enough to use as a base and far enough to avoid the worst of the crowds. It sits at the head of a small bay on the Ligurian coast, with a long, sandy beach, which is rare in this part of Italy, and a town of arcaded streets, a medieval loggia and a Gothic church striped in black and white stone. The hills behind are steep and green with olive groves, vines and chestnut woods, and the coast on either side is a series of rocky headlands. The town is relaxed, with a mix of residents and visitors, and in summer it has the easy atmosphere of a seaside resort without the glitz.

   Read the complete Levanto write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Levanto. Next is Portofino.

4. 4. Portofino

   Portofino is tiny, absurdly pretty and aware of it. The harbour is a horseshoe of tall, pastel-coloured houses facing a little square, with fishing boats and yachts rubbing shoulders at the quay, and a hillside of pine and cypress rising behind. The Romans called it Portus Delphini, the Port of the Dolphin, and the name has stuck in a modified form. For centuries it was a quiet fishing village, and then in the nineteenth century foreign visitors, especially the British, began to fall in love with it, and in the twentieth century film stars and millionaires made it fashionable. The permanent population is only a few hundred, but the summer crowds are many times that.

   Read the complete Portofino write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Portofino, late in the day. Next is Genoa.

5. 5. Genoa

   Genoa is a city built on a slope, with a port at the bottom and neighbourhoods stacked above it like seats in a theatre. It has been a great maritime power since the Middle Ages, and the Republic of Genoa ruled trade routes across the Mediterranean, financed kings and sent Christopher Columbus, who was born here, to his voyages. The old town is one of the largest medieval centres in Europe, a maze of narrow lanes called caruggi, where sunlight rarely reaches the street and every doorway seems to hold a shrine, a shop or a bakery. With over 580,000 people, the city is a proper metropolis, with everything from fuel to repair shops.

   Read the complete Genoa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Genoa. That is the ride.