Levanto is culture and architecture, and much more: live your Big Wednesday and find the best wave, taste local delicatessen (and socialize) in cosy restaurants, thread the paths of the entroterra, bask in the sun of vast beaches – in a few words, choose your personal holiday style.
Levanto anticipates the enchantment of the Cinque Terre, the destination “par excellence”, narrated, sung and painted numberless times by numberless enthusiasts. This corner of paradise is pure joy for your body and your soul: villages perchés clinging to the rock, the murmur of the sea, the sight of vertical vineyards ascending the mountain - a vertigo of emotions for all the senses. In 1998 the UNESCO Heritage List included the Cinque Terre in its repertoire of wonders: natural safeguard depending on everybody, give your contribution and…park your car, relying on feet, train, bike and ferries as the most suitable means of transport.
Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore will stir your imagination with the vivid show of their polychrome houses, the bustle of fishermen, the miracle of their sanctuaries suspended in the sky, the genuine flavour of white wines and sciacchetrà (a passito “venerated” as the top of local oenology).
A few kilometres from Riomaggiore (direction La Spezia) Campiglia stands on a rocky spur. Set at the junction between mountain and sky, the sea in the background, this dramatic balcony offers the touching beauty of stone stairs and portals, the curiosity of an ancient tower- windmill, the intense scent of grapes and saffron. 2,000 steps link Campiglia and Schiara – definitely one of the most suggestive (and demanding) itineraries of the area.
Numberless trails generate (and arrive) in Campiglia, the author’s choice (and modes proposal) is the path to Portovenere. The “Port of Venus” bears in its name the echo of its beauty. The old core of the centre still maintains the original layout of Ligurian seaside borghi, an alternation of ascents, descents and narrow carruggi dominated by the church of San Pietro. Set on the tip of the promontory it offers travellers the delight of its breathtaking views: its loggia and terrace are the best place in town to enjoy the sight of the sea roaring against the cliffs, the isola della Palmaria a short distance away (hop on a ferry and reach the wonder of its intact habitats).
Your tour of the riviera finally approaches La Spezia, the capital of the most eastern province of Liguria. The town is the choice of not-accidental tourists keen to experience its elegant atmosphere, explore its architectural mix (from the castle of San Giorgio to Via del Prione and Passegiata Morin) and visit its interesting museums.
Take plenty of time to discover the charm of this ever changing town. Once a site of strategic military importance (the presence of both arsenal and port has shaped the forms of urban growth), in the last 15 years La Spezia has redefined its profile, fostering the development of a lively cultural identity. This is definitely the city of museums: the Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art proposes a permanent collection, various temporary exhibitions and a mine of constant innovations; the “Amedeo Lia” museum is the temple of late-medieval Italian painting; the Seals Museum derives from the generous donation of the Cappellini collection; the Museo Formentini hosts the enigmatic statue-steles of the Lunigiana (Copper Age and Iron Age); the seats of the National Transportation Museum present trolleybuses and buses of the past, perfectly restored.