Why this ride
358 km from Ripa-Pozzi-Querceta-Ponterosso to Ripa-Pozzi-Querceta-Ponterosso, about 6 h 33 of riding. It goes by way of Isola del Tinetto, Portovenere, Isola del Tino and Cinque Terre and Portovenere.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Palais de Seravezza and Cinque Terre and Portovenere
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 358 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 33
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 18 km this is Liguria Coastal Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Liguria Coastal Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Palais de Seravezza is where the day begins. Next is Isola del Tinetto.
2. 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 comes up 24 km in. Next is Portovenere.
3. 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
48 km in you reach Portovenere. Next is Isola del Tino.
4. Isola del Tino
Isola del Tino is an island you are almost never allowed to visit. It lies just off the southern tip of the Ligurian coast, a short distance beyond Portovenere and the island of Palmaria, and it belongs to the Italian navy, which keeps it as a military zone. The one exception is the feast of San Venerio, on the thirteenth of September, when boats ferry visitors across and the public may walk on the island for the day. Venerius was a hermit who lived on the island, and the ruins of a medieval monastery built in his honour stand among the pines and rocks.
Read the complete Isola del Tino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Isola del Tino, about halfway. Next is Cinque Terre and Portovenere.
5. Cinque Terre and Portovenere
Five villages cling to the cliffs of the Ligurian coast, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore, and a little further south the old harbour of Portovenere guards the entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia, often called the Gulf of Poets because Byron and Shelley both lived around it. The whole coast is a World Heritage Site, and what UNESCO honours is the work of generations of farmers who built stone terraces on slopes so steep that they are almost vertical, with thousands of kilometres of dry-stone walls holding vines and olives. The sweet Sciacchetrà wine from these terraces is rare and expensive.
Read the complete Cinque Terre and Portovenere write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cinque Terre and Portovenere sits at 95 km, about halfway. Next is back through Isola del Tino.
6. Back to Palais de Seravezza
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Isola del Tino comes up 119 km in. Next is back through Portovenere.
7. 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
At least 155 km in you reach back through Portovenere. Next is back through Isola del Tinetto.
8. Back to Palais de Seravezza
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Isola del Tinetto, late in the day. Next is Palais de Seravezza.
9. Palais de Seravezza
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
The route ends here after 190 km.
Leg by leg
Palais de Seravezza to Isola del Tinetto
Palais de Seravezza → Isola del Tinetto is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Isola del Tinetto to Portovenere
Isola del Tinetto → Portovenere is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Portovenere to Isola del Tino
Portovenere → Isola del Tino is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Isola del Tino to Cinque Terre and Portovenere
Isola del Tino → Cinque Terre and Portovenere is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cinque Terre and Portovenere to Back to Palais de Seravezza
Cinque Terre and Portovenere → Back to Palais de Seravezza is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Portovenere to Back to Palais de Seravezza
back through Portovenere → Back to Palais de Seravezza is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.