La Spezia Travel Forum

Hello, we will be travelling to La Spezia in May this year by car. we have a hotel but no parking. I was wondering how much is it to park per day at the local parking lots? is it better to stay in La Spezia or livorno? I heard Livorno is less touristy?!

Both towns are nice and unremarkable. I prefer La Spezia because it's smaller and has a cozier feel---something about being tucked up against the hills---and I didn't find it offensively touristy. Tourists in La Spezia are probably just sleeping there because they couldn't get accommodations in the Cinque Terre, whereas Livorno is the offload point for cruise-ship tours to Florence and Pisa.

haha! I wouldn't have described La Spezia as touristy at all(!) ;-) I have to agree with Douglas that people don't go to La Spezia, they change trains in La Spezia and sleep there only if they can't sleep in Portovenere or the Cinque Terre or whatever. La Spezia is a regular Italian town that is a major base for the Italian Navy.

As for parking, the cost varies on where you are - the city is divided into more than a dozen zones for parking purposes with variations on who can park where (like parking only for residents), and different rates per hour (depending on how in-town the zone is). See the map at http://www.comune.sp.it/citta/piano_sosta.htm . Unfortunately for you (I suppose), all the info is in Italian.

I would say to contact your hotel and have them tell you what municipal lots or nearby and how much it costs...you would think that they would know...

Bill

By the way, for a navy port it's surprisingly classy and quite sedate. There's a great fleamarket along the waterfront and a quite good small art museum.

When we drove through La Spezia a few years ago on the way to Portovenere, we were tickled to see laundry hanging from clotheslines suspended from some of the naval buildings near the docks - it seemed to be a throwback to Italy of yesteryear ;-)...but I agree that it is not a port town the way, say, Naples is (good thing, too)...

Bill

if you went to La Spezia, in the evening go to Portovenere and look for Trattoria Iseo, is a restaurant in "Calata Doria" (waterfront) phone# 0187 790145 ...
this is a great tip
Believe me.. it does not matter you eat "trofie al pesto" or [fish] "grigliata mista".. everything would be good, also local wine they serve there..

I think the Trattoria da Iseo was the one that we ate at one night, just down the way from the Grand Hotel...if so, I have to 100% agree that it is a great place. And when cgf says "waterfront" - it's true(!) - the boats with fresh fish pull up about 20-30 feet in front of the front door.

We went off season and were the only foreigners there. My mother-in-law wanted something not on the menu and the owner/manager happily made it (baby fried squid - yum yum yum!).

To get to this restaurant, take the road from La Spezia out to Portovenere - it has various names, but it runs along the bay out to Portvenere, and I recall there are signs all the way. When you get close to Portovenere, the road splits and becomes one way - the road becomes a giant circle through Portovenere itself.

Watch for the Grand Hotel (on the right) when you get into town. Just after you pass it, you will descend a little then veer around to the left where you will see the waterfront. There is municipal parking immediately here on your left (a few head in slots next to the wall). Park here and the restaurant is just a few steps away. If you miss this parking, you will be on the one way road out of town...however, you will pass in front of a lot of restaurants that face the water because this section of the road is at water level (the inbound road is at the level of the town). If need be, just circle around ;-)

Bill

if you tell me which hotel, I can tell you the best way to park...