La Spezia

[happy v]

Could anyone tell me where the shuttle bus drop off is in La Spezia please.

[Fionboard]

2 hours ago, happy v said:

Could anyone tell me where the shuttle bus drop off is in La Spezia please.

At the cruise terminal at the end of the waterfront. Can recommend the ferry to Porto Venere. It is stunning. There is also a bus there which takes about half an hour and only a few euros.

[Megabear2]

Two votes for Porto Venere.  

[kruzseeka]

Hi happy v 🙂

We're big fans of doing the Cinque Terre from La Spezia.  Last time we even got the ferry from Vernazza to Porto Venere then the local bus back to La Spezia.  Fabulous.  Needs a bit of planning plus the local train/ferry/bus timetables but very doable (with safety margins built in! ).  If you think you might want to do it or just the Cinque Terre, I can tell you more of our experiences.  But a great stop.  👍

[galeforce9]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Two votes for Porto Venere.  

Three

[happy v]

Thanks everyone for your help. The plan is Cinque Terre on the train. It seems the best option for us due to 'knee' issues going up and down. Also as it will be October sea conditions may not be ideal. I do appreciate the help though.

[happy v]

Kruzseeka nice to hear from you. I hope you are both well. Have you returned to cruising yet?

[kruzseeka]

5 minutes ago, happy v said:

Kruzseeka nice to hear from you. I hope you are both well. Have you returned to cruising yet?

Yes thanks we're fine.  We did our first 'return to cruising' a couple of months ago on Aurora but ended up in quarantine for 6 days!  We were well looked after though and enjoyed Norway until our activities were curtailed.  Not put us off but we've nothing else booked until next year but I'm on the look out.  

Hope you're OK too - when's your trip?  Have you done Cinque Terre before?  Happy to pass on our thoughts to perhaps make the most of your time there if you're not familiar with the area.  🙂

[Trevor Fountain]

42 minutes ago, happy v said:

Thanks everyone for your help. The plan is Cinque Terre on the train. It seems the best option for us due to 'knee' issues going up and down. Also as it will be October sea conditions may not be ideal. I do appreciate the help though.

Have you checked the train timetables? Bear in mind it is a Sunday. I had a look a few weeks back and it seemed a bit tight as I recall. I was told there is a bus for about 3 euros to Portovenerre, but I can't find it listed anywhere.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Trevor Fountain

[happy v]

1 hour ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Have you checked the train timetables? Bear in mind it is a Sunday. I had a look a few weeks back and it seemed a bit tight as I recall. I was told there is a bus for about 3 euros to Portovenerre, but I can't find it listed anywhere.

The Cinque Terre express website says they run every 15mins 7days a week 

[happy v]

1 hour ago, kruzseeka said:

Yes thanks we're fine.  We did our first 'return to cruising' a couple of months ago on Aurora but ended up in quarantine for 6 days!  We were well looked after though and enjoyed Norway until our activities were curtailed.  Not put us off but we've nothing else booked until next year but I'm on the look out.  

Hope you're OK too - when's your trip?  Have you done Cinque Terre before?  Happy to pass on our thoughts to perhaps make the most of your time there if you're not familiar with the area.  🙂

Fancy catching covid on your first cruise!

We are going 2nd October La Spezia was the reason we booked this one

Unfortunately we now aren't as agile as we once we're so plan short walk abouts at each stop.

[kruzseeka]

7 hours ago, happy v said:

Fancy catching covid on your first cruise!

We are going 2nd October La Spezia was the reason we booked this one

Unfortunately we now aren't as agile as we once we're so plan short walk abouts at each stop.

That's pretty much what we did on our first exploration.  The first village is Riomaggiore.   There is a well paved walk in the cliff side called the Via dell 'Amore which it says is just over 1Km long.  If you can manage that it's lovely and worth doing and takes you to the second village  Manarola.  Oops! Just looked it up and it's closed until 2024!  So the train it is to Manarola! 

 

But, I wanted to alert you to the access to Corniglia which could well be an issue wrt your knee problem.  The train station is more or less at sea level - the village is perched on the top of the hill. It's quite a climb!  There are steps, over 300! Although it's a pretty village it doesn't have quite the same 'feel' as the others which are clustered around harbours so you may want to miss that one out.

https://www.italiarail.com/train-station/corniglia-train-station-cinque-terre-guide

 

In which case you'd get the train again from Manarola to Vernazza perhaps the largest and prettiest village of them all with beautiful views and photo ops.  We usually spend more time here.

 

The cliff side nature of the villages runs out by the time you get to Monterosso which has a small beach, prom and cafes.  But nice easy strolling.

 

Using the Cinque Terre card you buy at the train station in La Spezia you use the train like a hop on hop off service. Last time we went you bought the Cinque Terre card at a separate booth from the ordinary ticket sales - just have a look around in the station entrance to see if there is a dedicated sales point.  We got a taxi up to the station in La Spezia the first time we went (it is walkable - uphill though fairly gentle) to get a head start to make the most of the day.  It's an easier walk from the station through the town downhill to the waterfront on the way back.

 

This is a trip I'd looked at - wish we were going now.  Have a great time. 

[happy v]

2 hours ago, kruzseeka said:

That's pretty much what we did on our first exploration.  The first village is Riomaggiore.   There is a well paved walk in the cliff side called the Via dell 'Amore which it says is just over 1Km long.  If you can manage that it's lovely and worth doing and takes you to the second village  Manarola.  Oops! Just looked it up and it's closed until 2024!  So the train it is to Manarola! 

 

But, I wanted to alert you to the access to Corniglia which could well be an issue wrt your knee problem.  The train station is more or less at sea level - the village is perched on the top of the hill. It's quite a climb!  There are steps, over 300! Although it's a pretty village it doesn't have quite the same 'feel' as the others which are clustered around harbours so you may want to miss that one out.

https://www.italiarail.com/train-station/corniglia-train-station-cinque-terre-guide

 

In which case you'd get the train again from Manarola to Vernazza perhaps the largest and prettiest village of them all with beautiful views and photo ops.  We usually spend more time here.

 

The cliff side nature of the villages runs out by the time you get to Monterosso which has a small beach, prom and cafes.  But nice easy strolling.

 

Using the Cinque Terre card you buy at the train station in La Spezia you use the train like a hop on hop off service. Last time we went you bought the Cinque Terre card at a separate booth from the ordinary ticket sales - just have a look around in the station entrance to see if there is a dedicated sales point.  We got a taxi up to the station in La Spezia the first time we went (it is walkable - uphill though fairly gentle) to get a head start to make the most of the day.  It's an easier walk from the station through the town downhill to the waterfront on the way back.

 

This is a trip I'd looked at - wish we were going now.  Have a great time. 

Thank you so much Kruz spot on as always. I have now crossed Corniglia off my list. I have bought our train tickets. Apparently you don't need to wait in the queue if you have them as they are already validated for the date.

I wish you had been coming with us

[Megabear2]

Hope these wet your appetite. July this year from the ferry.

[happy v]

Fabulous, I know they are best from the water. If we go again we can take a boat trip and not get off. Thank you for sharing these

Could you see much from the ship as you left?

[Megabear2]

Unfortunately not.  I took a bus to Portovenere which was extremely interesting as it showed on the way the scale of the Spanish naval base which was huge.  Spent about an hour in Portovenere as I love the Byron connection and then caught the ferry from there via the ports. 

 

I actually stepped off at only three ending up at the last where I caught the train back and then took a taxi from the station to the ship.  Overall the trip was 7 1/2 hours including an hour for a leisurely lunch.  The train was very quick on the return, only one stop.  Be aware the schedule in July was disrupted, not by much, but all trains were delayed and very busy.

 

My walking isn't the quickest so it did take me a while on the steeper slopes.  Have to admit this is one of my favourite parts of the world - I was in Portofino in June on my Celebrity cruise.  It can be tiring to try to do all five towns and when I visited previously on Queen Victoria I had longer in port so felt less rushed and I took the ferry both ways.  If I was visiting again any time soon I'd probably stick to visiting three maximum.

 

 

[Megabear2]

I meant to add the €5 train ticket is only valid for one journey.  If you get off in one village you will need a new ticket to ride to another one, so 5 ports means 5 tickets plus of course one for the return.  The ferry although slower was better value.

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Megabear2

[Eglesbrech]

The best Farinata I have ever had was from a tiny restaurant in La Spezia - La Pia. It is cheap, basic and authentically local but really delicious food. They make a batch and when it is sold that’s that.
 

For those who have already done all the other more interesting touristically things in the area this is one small pleasure that is left. I managed to get their recipe and still use it at home to this day.

[Megabear2]

Meant to say I didn't use the Cinque Terre Card as I was only making the one journey and used the scheduled Trenitalia trains. On the day the Cinque Terre Express was experiencing problems due to industrial action.

 

Incidentally these transport strikes are continuing all across Italy apparently. We had no water buses in Venice on Friday due to a strike and all buses stopped at 7.30pm in support.

[happy v]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Meant to say I didn't use the Cinque Terre Card as I was only making the one journey and used the scheduled Trenitalia trains. On the day the Cinque Terre Express was experiencing problems due to industrial action.

 

Incidentally these transport strikes are continuing all across Italy apparently. We had no water buses in Venice on Friday due to a strike and all buses stopped at 7.30pm in support.

For this very reason I have plan A, B, and C

[kruzseeka]

12 hours ago, happy v said:

Thank you so much Kruz spot on as always. I have now crossed Corniglia off my list. I have bought our train tickets. Apparently you don't need to wait in the queue if you have them as they are already validated for the date.

I wish you had been coming with us

After all these years wouldn't that have been lovely?  🤗

Good planning to get your tickets ahead of time.  The queue at the station can be quite long.

Have a wonderful time - let us know how you get on. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by kruzseeka

[Fionboard]

Porto Venere.  Only half an hour from La Spezia and a lovely place to go for lunch.

[seapals2]

On 9/22/2022 at 11:16 AM, Fionboard said:

Porto Venere.  Only half an hour from La Spezia and a lovely place to go for lunch.

Planning on doing this. Our stop in La Spezia falls on a Sunday.  Am I right in thinking the ferry doesn’t run to Porto Venere that day.  Is it a long walk to bus stop?  Taxi seems the easiest option albeit the most expensive.  Bus back and a look round La Spezia.  Saw very little of it the last time as spent the whole day visiting the Cinque Terre.  
 

[Fionboard]

Pretty sure the ferry runs on Sunday. It is probably the busiest day surely? 

[happy v]

I would like to thank you both for your input regarding our Cinque Terre visit. Just letting you know it all went to plan and we had an excellent day. We visited four towns. Missing the middle one as advised. If we are lucky enough to go to La Spezia again we will take the ferry and only visit one town. Megabear I think you will be amused that the destination board at our first station was reporting 'due to strike action trains could be delayed or cancelled!' Luckily the companies involved were not the ones we were booked with. Anyway thanks again for your help it was very much appreciated.