Why this ride
194 km from Portovenere to Portovenere, about 3 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Palais de Seravezza and back through Portovenere. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Isola del Tinetto and Palais de Seravezza
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 194 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Liguria Coastal Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 27 km this is Liguria Coastal Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 27 km
- Named road
- Liguria Coastal Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Isola del Tinetto
Three islands trail off the tip of the Porto Venere peninsula like stepping stones: Palmaria, the largest, then Tino, and finally the Tinetto, a bare rock with the ruins of an early medieval monastic settlement and a small lighthouse beacon. Together with Porto Venere and the Cinque Terre, they form a World Heritage Site, listed for the way people shaped this rugged coast with terraces, villages and fortifications. The Tinetto is home to a rare lizard found only on these islands, and the waters around are rich in marine life.
Read the complete Isola del Tinetto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Isola del Tinetto is where the day begins. Next is Portovenere.
2. Portovenere
Portovenere is a pastel row of tall houses stacked along the water's edge, their backs forming a kind of sea wall, and at the end of the promontory a black-and-white striped church on a rock. The church of San Pietro, begun in the twelfth century in the Genoese Gothic style, stands on the foundations of an older sanctuary that was supposedly a temple of Venus, the goddess who gave the town its name, and the whole point of the place leans out into the Ligurian Sea. Across a narrow strait lie the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, part of the same World Heritage listing that covers the Cinque Terre. Byron is said to have swum across the bay to visit Shelley at Lerici, and a cave below the church carries his name.
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 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Palais de Seravezza.
3. Palais de Seravezza
Seravezza is where the Apuan Alps meet the Versilia coast in northern Tuscany. Behind the beaches of Forte dei Marmi, the mountains rise abruptly, white with marble scars, and Seravezza sits at the mouth of a valley where two rivers join. The Palazzo Mediceo, built in the 1560s for Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was a summer residence and a base for overseeing the region's marble quarries and silver mines. It is one of the Medici villas and gardens inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2013, and today it hosts museums and exhibitions.
Read the complete Palais de Seravezza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 97 km into the recorded legs you reach Palais de Seravezza. Next is back through Portovenere.
4. back through Portovenere
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Portovenere, late in the day. Next is Isola del Tinetto.
5. Isola del Tinetto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Isola del Tinetto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Isola del Tinetto. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Isola del Tinetto to Portovenere
Isola del Tinetto → Portovenere is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Portovenere to Palais de Seravezza
Portovenere → Palais de Seravezza is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Palais de Seravezza to back through Portovenere
Palais de Seravezza → back through Portovenere is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Portovenere to Isola del Tinetto
back through Portovenere → Isola del Tinetto is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.