Looks like it's easy to get to Portovenere from La Spezia by bus, so it's still very doable without a car:

http://www.apathtolunch.com/2013/01/...rtovenere.html

Motorino,

I am not a whiz at reading cruise ship timetables, so perhaps I am reading it wrong, but I looked at the link I gave to the OP earlier, and it appears to me that in September, there are at least 4 cruise ships scheduled to dock in Portovenere and some of these ships are larger than 300 passengers. In addition, Portovenere is the alternate dock for La Spezia and Portofino, and cruise ships scheduled to dock there sometimes re-route to dock in Portovenere.

Also, there are plenty of shore excursions in September emanating from other ports like Livorno that head to Portovenere or include it as part of a day's tour of the area. Just google up "cruise ship excursions Portovenere" to see how many offerings there are. The thing is that loads of cruise shippers are now into their 3rd and 4th cruise, and they have already seen Le Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, etc, and so they go to Portovenere.

With so many beautiful towns along the coast with a local, untouristy feel, I am not sure why people are trying to twist the OP's arm so strongly to stay in Portovenere. (I am wondering if they have been in the other towns.)

It is possible that the OP's group doesn't want to stay in a cruise ship port. Even without a ship docking that day, the towns that are cruise ship ports have been much transformed by tourism to being less a place enjoyed by locals and visiting Italians to a place geared toward catering to the desires of cruise shippers and other non-Italian speaking visitors.

Since I live in the area, I see on a daily basis that a 700-passenger cruise ship has a large affect on the small coastal towns in terms of their character. I am detecting an attitude in the thread that a consideration of having a non-touristy experience of the Italian Riviera is one that should be jaw-boned away, and dismissed as not a valid consideration for the person going on the trip.

I heartily believe many of you that it doesn't matter to you the extent to which a town has become a tourist town for foreign visitors or has kept a local feeling. But the OP deserves the information that Portovenere is a cruise ship port and that this makes it feel like one to anyone who knows the difference or cares, and there are lots of other beautifully situated towns along the Riviera, with good connections to the tourist attractions, that are much less touristy.

Sandralist

Thank you for your reply. Your link does not appear to be the best source of reliable information.

For the record, exactly 0 cruises include Portovenere as a port of call in September 2015.

Your link to that website shows exactly two cruises that tender near Portovenere in Sept 2015. Not at least 3 or 4.

The Sojourn carries max 450 passengers. It is listed numerous times but it is the same cruise and it tenders in the gulf it does not dock because as you must know the port would not handle it. It tenders on one day in September - the 17th.

With regard to Quest, it tenders between La Spezia and Portovenere on Sept 10. Again, passengers have to be taken to shore by boat.

If the OP is going to be there in September it appears pretty easy to avoid any ships in port, as there will be none. 400 or 200 and 300 passengers tendering is just not a wave of people.

Frankly, I am not pushing Portovenere. I was correcting the facts in the interest of the traveler having correct information rather than allowing incorrect information to become truth. I assume you agree this is in the traveler's interest.

Portovenere does deserve its reputation as a charming coastal town. And it is a lot of fun to take the ferry among the Cinque Terre to Levanto. And even Santa Margherita and Porotfino are close enough as is Pietrasanta and as you point out other stops along the Tuscan coast.

People go there because there is no disputing it is lovely. That does not mean that Italy and specifically Liguria and Tuscany are not full of other perfectly lovely places too;-)

But if the OP wants to go to Portovenere IMO cruise ship traffic is a non-factor. And on the dates of September 10 and 17 should it be a concern make plans to go somewhere else and there is no chance of even finding a tendered cruise passenger.

A presto,
Motorino

Motorino,

Not ever having taken a cruise and having no interest in them, apparently I am missing some crucial detail about "tendering" and "being taken ashore" and "docking" which I doubt I will be able to learn before the end of my lifetime.

But I think you are gravely mistaken in believing that somebody going to Portovenere in September is not going to encounter cruise ship passengers in noticeable numbers. It is prime cruise season for that area and cruise shippers go to Portovenere.

Even if your belief is sincere, the reality is otherwise.

I do not know anything about cruise ships, but there are multiple sight seeing ferries that dock in Portovenere. I was there in Sept. Of 2013 and it was crowed. You had a difficult time walking through the crowds. I was also there 10 years ago in July and it was a pleasure. It is beautiful, the whole coast is beautiful.

The OP was initially looking for a comparison between Portovenere and Portofino so I think that's why many of us chimed in about our experience in those towns.

We also found it challenging to choose where to stay in the Cinque Terre/Italian Riviera because there are so many wonderful areas. It helps if you determine what your priorities are. Ideally, we wanted a 2-3 bedroom apartment rental, overlooking the sea, with a large balcony or terrace preferably in a "less touristy" town outside of the 5 Cinque Terre villages. Since we were not renting an auto, we also wanted easy access to public transportation and a location within walking distance of the main town area.

In addition to Portovenere, we also considered some very nice rentals in Tellaro, Lerici, Levanto, Sestri Levante, Chiavari, Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure, and Camogli but ended up choosing the apartment in Portovenere because it met all of our needs.

Our typical schedule in Portovenere involved taking a ferry in the morning to visit and hike in one of the Cinque Terre villages, returning late afternoon by ferry for a leisurely aperitivo on our sea-facing balcony, followed by an evening walk into town for a seafood dinner along the water. We had fabulous weather the entire week (late June.) Had planned to visit some of the outlying towns listed above but ran out of time. Would love to return some day and explore the other areas.

ttt

>>The OP was initially looking for a comparison between Portovenere and Portofino so I think that's why many of us chimed in about our experience in those towns. <<

In the first post, the OP also wrote of the traveling party: " so we are looking for less touristy, more local feeling here."

And that is also why some of us have chimed in here. I in particular was focusing on "more local feeling."

I also don't want to get lost in a technical discussion of cruise ships, and "less touristy" is of course in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps the only way I can put it is that if I specifically asked someone for a recommendation for a town with a "more local feeling" on the Riviera, and on their recommendation of Portovenere I booked in Portovenere, I would be instantly disappointed upon arrival because it does not have much local feeling anymore. It is not completely in the service of tourism, and very little of it is Italian tourism.

Several people in this thread have named towns on the Riviera where there is a much more local feeling, many more Italians per square inch than in Portovenere and the scenery and atmosphere is enchanting. It is very often true that when people come to message boards and ask for a "less touristy" place, they are really only asking for something that isn't overrun with group tours like Pisa or the Vatican museums. So Portovenere, in contrast to le Cinque Terre or Portofino feels "less touristy" enough, and certainly it is a very pretty place with an interesting history.

However, on the outside chance that the OP really is looking for a local experience of the beautiful Riviera, the way Italians enjoy it, I am here to say thet Porotovenere is not that, any more than le Cinque Terre or Portofino is.

Up to the OP.

Sorry to have made a confusing typo I should have written that Portovenere is completely in the service of tourism, and very little of it is Italian tourism.