Let's Book Your Cruise Blog

When in doubt, go off the beaten path

The port of La Spezia in Italy is mostly known for its proximity to popular locations: Pisa (home of the famous leaning tower), Florence, and the Cinque Terre region. Rather than visiting those places, though, I decided to pick an excursion that took me to two lesser-known places near the port, the towns of Lerici and Portovenere.

Overtourism is a big problem in a lot of European regions now, and Cinque Terre is one of them. One way for regions to address overtourism is to add tour options to other locations, and so I felt by choosing this tour (“Gulf of La Spezia by Land and Sea”), I was helping become part of the solution.

The title of the excursion was a bit of a misnomer — there was no “land” portion of our excursion as had been described when I purchased the tour. But that was ok: It actually made for a much more unique experience, where we were picked up by a boat at the cruise ship pier and shuttled across the water to first Lerici, then Portovenere.

In both of these locations, we had a shorted guided tour followed by some time on our own to explore the town. Although the time periods were shorter than I would have liked them to be, I did appreciate that the tour was well organized, and the tour guide was interesting and informative.

I enjoyed the stops in both cities, but I was especially charmed by Portovenere, our second stop. If I came back to La Spezia, I’d probably just take the water shuttle from the port directly to Portovenere and back, giving me more time to explore the city.

The boat trips to various islands around the Gulf of La Spezia (also known as the Gulf of Poets due to its history) dock right next to the entrance/exit of the cruise terminal. Boats run on a fairly regular schedule, especially in the busy summer months.

Of course, going to Portovenere on my own would require some more research in order to make sure that I made it back to the ship in time for our departure: If you’re not on an excursion booked through the cruise ship, you have to make sure you make it back onboard by the all aboard time (30 minutes before departure).

Overall, this was a good excursion, and I’d certainly recommend it as a good way to get a feel for two of the small towns in the area of La Spezia.