Lerici is situated at the southern end of the Gulf of La Spezia, sometimes called Gulf of Poets as well, since it is known for renowned writers such as Lord Byron spending time here. Lerici itself is a small town with around 10.000 inhabitants, but it is lovely, colorful, and definitively worth a visit.
Wandering Cinque Terre, you experience a diverse and beautiful coastline, rough and steep at times and smooth in other places. Photographed in July 2022.
Bella Italia! Who doesn’t know Italy, who doesn’t love Italy? It is a country of wine, excellent cuisine, and rich history after all. It can take a lifetime to explore all the exciting places in Italy, especially if you travel slowly and meaningfully as you should. But no matter how much time you have, Italy is always worth a visit.
Cinque Terre is a national park in Liguria, a region in the northwest of Italy situated just south of Genova. It is not only a national park but home to five distinct villages, also called “Cinque Terre” – the five villages – by locals and foreigners alike. These places are called Vernazza, Riomaggiore, Monterosso, Corniglia, and Manarola. So what’s so special about them? For a long period of time, they were only reachable from the sea by boat. Nowadays, there is a train line connecting all of them, and the time to go from one to the other is usually just a couple of minutes. Imagine a subway line, but instead of connecting different neighborhoods of one city, you can be in different towns along a beautiful coast in mere minutes. Another possibility to travel between these places is to hike. That’s one of the primary reasons why people like to come to Cinque Terre; they hike from one place to the other and take the train back later on. It’s so incredibly easy!
For information about Porto Venere please refer to the previous post. In this one, we take another walk through the town and discover new corners of a lovely little Italian village. Photographed in July 2021.
Portovenere is situated at the southern end of a peninsula. It consists of some islands and the former fishing village itself. Close by there is a larger town called La Spezia. Nonetheless, Portovenere seems remote, and you don’t really notice to be in the vicinity of a reasonably substantial metropole. The town is famous for visitors staying a couple of hours but also for guests spending their entire vacation right here.
Michael Hoffman Photography 