Portovenere Travel Forum

Help! We will be in Portovenere for the day in November and have learned that the ferry to the Cinque Terra stops in October. I know there is a train from La Spezia. How far is that from Porto and how does one get to La Spezia from Portovenere?

Grazie!

Portvenere is something like a 30 minute drive from the center of La Spezia...it's actually not that far, but the road is winding through residential neighborhoods. There is a bus that runs from the center of La Spezia to Portovenere; give me a few minutes and I'll look it up.

While I look this up, you should read up on Portovenere. It is similar to the Cinque Terre in a lot of ways, in that you have the multicolored houses facing the water, overlooking the shallow dock where the fishermen bring in their morning catch, to deliver to restaurants a few feet away for lunch and dinner.

Bill

Well, the bus system's website for La Spezia is http://www.atclaspezia.it/

So far, I can see only bus 11/P going to/from Portovenere. It looks like it runs near the dock area rather than farther in to the main train station, but it does end up at La Spezia Migliarina, a second train station. However, there don't appear to be many trains that are direct from here to the Cinque Terre (I picked Riomaggiore and Vernazza at random); that is, you'd have to change in most cases at La Spezia Centrale anyway.

Well, in any case, there is definitely bus service from Portovenere to La Spezia city center - honestly, depending on the exact route, it may pass within a few hundred meters of the main train station, so maybe a short walk is needed. From La Spezia Centrale, there should be fairly frequent trains - see www.trenitalia.com .

How long will the bus ride take? It looks like between 30 and 45 minutes. How much is it? Hmmmn, 0.90 euro? I think this is within the urban zone.

Sorry if I'm fuzzy on the bus details, but I made the drive from La Spezia to Portovenere in a rent car....but I do remember passing the bus on the way(!) ;-)

Bill

Bill,

Thanks so much for all of the great information! Do you think it's a better idea to rent a car? Where did you pick up your car?

I have read about Portovenere and I'm almost tempted to spend the day there as it sounds lovely.

Also looking into the Cinque Terra card which for about 6 euro allows unlimited train travel between La Spezia and Levanto and usage of shuttle buses between the 5 towns. We often prefer to use local transportation to get a feel for the color and character of a community so if it's do-able, we'll probably bus/train it.

Going to check out those links you provided. Again, many thanks for your help!

"Thanks so much for all of the great information! Do you think it's a better idea to rent a car? Where did you pick up your car?

I have read about Portovenere and I'm almost tempted to spend the day there as it sounds lovely.

Also looking into the Cinque Terra card which for about 6 euro allows unlimited train travel between La Spezia and Levanto and usage of shuttle buses between the 5 towns. We often prefer to use local transportation to get a feel for the color and character of a community so if it's do-able, we'll probably bus/train it.
"

As it turns out, I was in Milan for a meeting that didn't happen, so I had the rent car and my wife and mother-in-law for a few days to wander around the countryside. We drove to Portovenere over the mountains from Parma.

At Portovenere itself, you have, as I said, the same sort of construction that you see in many small fishing villages. Cars are not allowed on most streets in town - when you drive in with a rent car, there is a one-way street that takes you in to the edge of the city center, then back out again, so if you miss your stop (as I missed the parking garage for the Grand Hotel the first time), you have to drive all the way out of town and back in again ;-).

In the town itself, there is a small church at the end of the rock sticking out into the Mediterranean - many brides try to have their weddings here because it is quite scenic. In addition, there is "Byron's Grotto" or something like that nearby...well, it's a locked door overlooking a path down to the water, from which Lord Byron (or whoever it was) began his famous swim from Portovenere up to one of the other of the Cinque Terre. There is also a larger church higher up the hill; we never got that far.

Slightly out of the city center along the shoreline, there is a row of restaurants, since this is a small holiday destination for Italians...so finding places to eat and drink are not a problem. We were there over American Thanksgiving, which is a dead time for Portovenere, being between the summer and Christmas seasons, and even so, there were enough places open for us.

As for the Cinque Terre card, I am not familiar with it (perhaps you should contact ellenh who has been there), but I have to ask you just how much traveling were you planning on doing in one day? To me, getting the feel of the place means staying in one place for more than a few moments, walking around on foot, and maybe walking to the next village if it's close enough. In fact, that's the really unique thing about the Cinque Terre - the path that joins the 5 villages ("terre"). If you don't plan on doing that, you really might as well stay in Portovenere...although, oddly enough, there is better train service to the supposedly isolated Cinque Terre than there is to Portovenere...oh, well...

I am a bit puzzled that you have a "day" in Portovenere. How are you getting there?

Bill

Many thanks again, Bill, for all the detailed info. The car really never was an option. I was just curious about your experience and began to wonder if that was a method to consider.

We are in port for a day on a cruise. Right now the plan is to take the train to the most distant town and work our way south, walking some, train and bus to others. Don't know which ones we'll hit because as you said, just stopping in for a moment doesn't really do justice. On the other hand, by cruising we've found that we get to see a lot of places and can then decide which ones to go back to and spend more time.

So, the research continues! All I do know for certain is that I won't be swimming a la Lord Byron!

"We are in port for a day on a cruise." And where does the cruise ship dock? I wouldn't have thought Portovenere, but rather La Spezia (but please correct me if need be)...

Bill

Yes, it's Portovenere. We are also going to Livorno, Naples and Civitavecchia(Rome) (those are the Italian ports. It's a 10 nighter). We've been to all of those places before and it was the Cinque Terre stop that caught our attention.

Any suggestions for something to do around Livorno? We've been to Pisa, Florence and Lucca and are researching a trip to another Tuscan town......maybe San Gimignano (sp?) or someplace a bit closer.

The cruise is a month from today!

Thanks again.