Lucca, Levanto, and the Ligurian Coast - including the Cinque Terre and Portofino - Italy - 29th September 2026
Ciao Bellas from Italy, once amore. (Hehe)
Well, we set sail (metaphorically) from Siena and made it pretty smoothly to a caravan park about a mile outside of the old town of Lucca.
We were keen to go to Lucca as parents of my friend, Mick - and friends of ours too - Allan and Catherine had lived here before and absolutely raved about the town.
Rightio, let’s check it out.
We grabbed the old e-bikes and the dedicated cycle paths (LOVE 'EM) led us right to the city walls. Now, when I say City Walls, these things are the real deal. They completely surround the old town, but they are not a metre or so wide; oh no, they are 20 metres wide with trees and cycle paths around the entire 4.4 kilometres! Absolutely epic! We rode these walls a few times in the short time that we were here. We spent a good few hours checking out the beautiful old town, basilicas, alleyways, cafes, and shops. Check out the vid.
Our caravan park was pretty cool, with free washing machines and a pool, but they didn’t mention the gun club next door, and all day from about 10 am, the rifle and possible semi-automatic fire was constant. Plus, my ear infection had resurfaced again, and I had to see a doctor, and I got some antibiotics for it. Add the gunfire to a fucked ear, and it was a recipe for see ya later.
Anyway, we pulled up stumps early and hit the road for Levanto.
We probably didn’t get to appreciate Lucca enough, but hey, we can always come back, right? 🙂
We were booked in at a caravan park in Levanto, and I sent them a msg asking if we could get in a day early. Although it was late September, they were fully booked and couldn’t squeeze us in for an extra night! Sounds like we picked a popular one if that’s the go.
We found a campervan park near the Levanto train station and stayed there for the night before checking in to Pian Di Picche the next day, where we settled for five wonderful nights.
Now: some backstory on Levanto.
Most of you would have heard of the Cinque Terre - which literally translates to Five Lands. The beautiful stretch of the Ligurian coast boasts five towns - in order from North to South: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Well, Levanto is one town north of Monterosso, and while the other five are steep towns that eventually meander down to the water, Levanto is at sea level - for the most part. It is also a very special town for Jen-Jen and Yours Truly, as we came here 11 years ago for my 40th birthday. Bob and Heather - Jen-Jen’s parents - flew over to meet us before we did a Mediterranean cruise. Bob bought us a 50-euro bottle of Brunello wine to drink before dinner and shouted us all to a Michelin-star seafood restaurant (Osteria Tumelin, if I remember correctly) that night for dinner. It was also the last time that they both went overseas together. Great times, Bittersweet memories.
Anyway, Levanto held good memories for us, so we wanted to come back and see if it was as good as we remembered.
It wasn’t… it was better!
It ticked all of the boxes for us. Beach, azure water, snorkelling, bike tracks, good roads, not too crowded, lots of locals, great cafes and restaurants, supermarkets, train station… it has it all my friends. Tourists who only go to the Cinque Terre miss out on this gem. It even gets surf, and they hold one pro surfing comp here! We also decided that if we ever travel again for an extended period of time, Levanto will be our base. It is that good!
We decided to visit all five of the Cinque towns over the next few days, and that’s what we did.
We started by getting the train to the furthest town, Riomaggiore. Obviously, since we hadn’t been here for eleven years, the infrastructure and commerce had changed a lot. One of the things that had been upgraded was the Via dell’Amore or the Lover’s Lane.
“The Via dell'Amore (1 km) is the most famous and romantic stretch of the Cinque Terre coastline. It is a paved, flat walking path, not so much a hike but rather a pleasant stroll affording spectacular views of the cliffs and the sea. It is equipped with handrails and benches along the way, making it ideal for inexperienced hikers.
The visitors enter from Riomaggiore, going toward Manarola on a one-way route. During the tour, visitors are able to marvel at the gorgeous Ligurian Sea while guides share the story of the Via dell’Amore.” https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/cinque-terre-via-dell-amore
We walked this path before we got a bus up to a hilltop town called Volastra to do a proper hike. Jen had found the Volastra to Coniglia hike down “terraced vineyards” that should take an hour or so.
Rightio, off we go.
The bus drove about a bloody kilometre up windy mountain roads (my favourite things in the world) before dropping us off on top of the Cinque. The views were spectacular, even though it was still pretty hot. We set off and the “terraced vineyards” happened to be goat tracks on the edge of cliffs. After 10 minutes, we passed a wine bar underneath a trellis full of grapevines that looked inviting, but we pushed on. After another 10 minutes of no handrails, sheer drops and rocky paths, we decided to abort the mission and adjourn to the sheltered shade of the wine bar… Great decision, as we tried a local white that was pretty bloody good! Check out the vid.
The next day was a Friday, and we thought that we would be smart and go to the beautiful town of Portofino to beat the Saturday crowds that would descend the following day. We caught the train at Sparrow’s for an hour or so and got off at a town called Santa Margherita.
From this town, you could get a local bus or a ferry to Portofino. We elected to get the ferry but had to wait an hour for the first one, so we decided to walk around this little beach town.
What a hidden gem!
This town was beautiful. Check it out below:
We then got the 10.15 am ferry to Portofino, hiked up the 1000 or so steps to Browne Castle, grabbed some great shots, had pizza at a cafe, browsed some souvenirs and saw the exterior of Hotel Portofino. (Editor’s note: I was devo to find out that they didn’t actually film there; they mostly filmed somewhere in Croatia. In the words of Jay from Chasing Amy: “Movies are fucking bullshit!” 😂 )
Anyway, Portofino - I guess the translation is fine port - is sheltered from all storms, and the water was incredible. Check it.
North of Levanto are these old train tunnels that they have restored for pedestrians and cyclists, and we rode through them the next day and ended up in the next town called Bonassola. We didn’t have our swimmers with us, so we chained the treadly’s up and walked around this town. For 1.5 euros, I had la cipolla focaccia - onion focaccia - which was so delicious that I had to get a second slice. This is what is so good about Italian cuisine. 4 or 5 simple ingredients of the highest quality used to make perfectly simple food: flour, water, olive oil, onion, salt. Perfecto!
We then cycled home, grabbed swimmers and ocean (oyster) shoes, rode back, re-chained the treadly’s and swam in the azure Ligurian Sea with no cares in the world - especially since I got my killer silicone earplugs that let in zero water!!
(Have I typed Perfecto much since we’ve been in Italy?)
Because we were leaving Delph in a few days, we tried to cook most meals and eat down the fridge and cupboards, so there aren’t too many food discoveries in this edition, except for one that happened the next day.
After walking through the old town of Corniglia and buying some lemon-scented soap and a lemon granita from tourist traps, we trained it back to Vernazza as an old school friend of Jen-Jen’s was on holiday with her friend. We met Kim and Katrina in Vernazza and spent a few good hours talking travel, family, food, and friends. Good times.
We had dinner at a beachside restaurant in Vernazza and the girls all went for the local trofie pasta with pesto, but I tried something a little different: sardines fried with thinly sliced potatoes and served in a passata.
Man, this was one for the books, and one that I will be replicating in the very near future. Washed down with a local Chianti, all was good with the world, dear readers. We then bid the ladies buon viaggio and caught la treno back to Levanto.
So we’d been to the Cinque Terre towns numerous times by now, but we’d never actually had a swim at one of them. While we sat with the ladies the day before, I noticed many spots to swim at Vernazza, so the next day we trained it back in, had an incredible swim in the bay before we trekked to the viewpoint and caught the ferry back to Monterosso. We spent an hour or so checking out the town before we trained it back to Delph to get ready to bail the next day.
This part of the world was so special, and we really believe that we could rent a place for 3 months or so in Levanto and live La Dolce Vita without moving around too much.
So glad we came back.
We’re off to Genoa for the night tomorrow before we leave Delph for a few weeks and check out the kingdoms of both Egypt and Jordan.
Grazie Mille, Italia, ti amo.
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