Colourful Villages
The coast of the Riviera di Levante stretches from Genoa south-east towards Tuscany and offers so many highlights. This blog is in memory of our amazing and beautiful dog, Mungo, who passed on in 2018 and accompanied us on so many of our trips through Europe.
Camogli is close to the city and port of Genoa. We found this place to be less touristy and much more traditional than all the other places we write about here. In our opinion it’s not as pretty as other famous places further south, but we still enjoyed walking along the seaside promenade with many little shops and the seaside terrace at our hotel Cenobio dei Dogi.
Camogli is the gateway to the Portofino Peninsula. And here is where you’ll find the Italian version of Saint Tropez: Portofino. It really is very chic and one can easily understand why ‘Dolce Vita’ originated here.
The biggest challenge here is finding a parking space! Its postcard location only has very limited space for infrastructure for the amount of tourism it attracts. Once we did get parked, we caught the ‘vibe’ straight away!
Travelling with a dog you tend to walk more and it’s also a great way to see the beautiful landscape around Portofino. Our highlight was the hike to San Fruttuosa, taking about 2 hours to get there. The walk is amazing and there are some great views of Portofino's harbour.
At the San Fruttuoso bay which is only accessible on foot or by boat we had lunch and enjoyed the little beach before taking the boat service back to Portofino.
The National Park of Cinque Terre is around 1.5 hours’ drive further down the coast and is definitely an unforgettable place and highlight of a trip to Italy. The name stands for the 5 territories and fishing villages that stretch along the 12 km coast.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most famous coastal landscapes in the world and compares in beauty to the Amalfi coast. The area gets around 3 million visitors a year so it’s wise to time your trip outside of the main holiday season!
The easiest way to travel from village to village is by boat or train, not by car! It’s a great place for hikers and we recommend doing at least one of the many beautiful hikes. One of them is a breathtaking path that goes from Monterosso to Vernazza, passing through olive groves, vineyards and large cactus. At the end of the hike this gorgeous view over Vernazza awaits you.
Our Mungo never missed a chance to jump into water! The look on his face was classic that he was much more into swimming than us taking photos at the lovely harbour of Vernazza.
The harbour area is a great place to enjoy seafood and wine at one of the restaurants. But not too much wine… as we still had to walk back again and the paths require a good bit of balance 😊. Before heading back we visited a great view point from Doria castle. It was built in the 13th century on the top of a huge boulder as protection from pirates. From the Belforte tower there are more stunning views of Vernazza and the coast.
Doesn't the name 'Via dell’Amore' sound too romantic not to be missed? Yes, that's what we thought too, so we took the train to Riomaggiore where the path along the seaside would lead us to Manarola, offering spectacular views along the way. Well that’s what we read and had planned but unfortunately, the path was closed for safety issues and was being renovated then.
Every village has its own charm and it's difficult to say which one is the prettiest. All of them are in a beautiful location along the rugged and steep coastline and the houses and buildings are an array of different colours. The view of Manarola from the north is among the most popular ones.
Of all the 5 villages we didn’t visit Corniglia which is the only one not right at the sea. We stayed a little way just outside of Monterosso at the lovely and small hotel La Serra sul Mare set within olive groves and offering a beautiful view along the coast.
Monterosso is the largest of the 5 villages and has the best infrastructure including the only real beach. To get from the old town to the modern beach area you need to walk through a tunnel. And to get a good view of the village it’s best to hike up one of the hills. The walking path to the Punta Mesco viewpoint offers a fantastic view of the whole coast of the Cinque Terre national park.
Levanto lies a bit further north and outside of the national park and is an interesting place, and good if you want to get away from the main tourist route. It's a typical Italian seaside town and has all kinds of shops for all needs.
We had a wonderful time in Liguria and enjoyed all our walks with Mungo. For his old age it was a sometimes a bit too much up and down but we took it slowly with many rest stops and time to take in the gorgeous views.
"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"
(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)
Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
© Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker