We will be staying in Liguria for 6 nights during a trip to Italy next June. We can't decide whether to stay in Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure or to base ourselves in Lerici. We will not be driving so will need to be based somewhere with reasonable transport links. We love to be by the sea for the views, but never lie about on beaches, preferring to explore and soak up Italian ambience. We don't mind tourists (being tourists ourselves!) but would prefer not to be overrun with them (for example, we would not like to say somwhere like Sorrento) and would like to be based somewhere that has a good selection of reasonably priced restaurants as some of the prices on the riviera seem to be eyewatering. We are not interested in souvenier shops etc, and are looking for somwhere with more of an authentic Italian feel. Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. I have spent many hours on research and would like to get on with some other things! I have seen a number of posts from Zeppole on this forum and would be particularly interested to learn if he or she has any advice. Thanks.

yardbird,

I haven't visited the other 2 towns, but we really enjoyed our 3 nt stay in SML. We found it untouristed (our trip was in May), but a charming resort town on it's own and good for visiting by train the Cinque Terre villages and hiking 4 out of 5. Also for visiting Portofino via boat for early morning window shopping, exploring and a long wine-filled lunch by the marina! We would have loved to stay a 4h nt, but couldn't cancel the next res in time.

Buon viaggio!

Hi there. He or she is here!

There is no train station in Lerici, and while the advertised 15-bus ride to and from the Lerici station is probably reliable, it still makes for some serious limitations. You'd need to double check how late the bus runs. My guess would be it stops around 8pm (like elsewhere) -- and thus you are pretty much limited to eating in Lerici every night. Plus, Lerici itself is somewhat limited to being a scenic beach resort town with only minor cultural interests -- so surely over the course of 6 days you will want to venture further, and probably beyond La Spezia. So you'll be looking a mutliple transportation schedules every day to plan optimal connections from bus to trains in order not spend long wait times.

If you want to simplify your life, book in Rapallo, which has an abundance of hotels in all price ranges and excellent train (and bus) connections to points of interest. You should try to get one with at least a kitchenette. You are going to be smack dab in a busy holiday resort town with lots of traffic and hustle and shops of all description -- souvenir to tire rrepair -- but it's one increasingly abandoned by foreigners in favor of places like le Cinque Terre and you can easily escape to neighboring Chiavari or Lavagna and see almost nary another fellow foreigner, and slip into hideaways like San Fruttuoso by boat, or take the funivia up to Monteallegro on a clear day. And you can head right into Genova in less than an hour, for no end of urban excitement and some very impressive museums, literally covering the waterfront. And if nothing else, Rapallo has a gelateria -- Frigidarium -- that ranks among the best in Italy according to my tastebuds.

If you need something with less traffic, check out Santa Margherita Ligure or slightly cheaper Camogli (and look for an apartment here as well).

If you are willing to invest more time researching and taking a risk, you can try to find a suitable lodgings in your price range in either Chiavari or Sestri Levante or La Spezia itself. Chiavari is perhaps the most beautiful small urban town on the coastal Rivera, with a marvelous Renaissance core and terrific food. Really terrific food. Nothing touristy about it. But it hides its light under a bushel, and you'd have to dig to find a hotel. Few have websites. And its best parts are not on the renovated, boardwalked seafront, but a 10-minute walk inland, therefore no sea views. For six nights, I would look into renting an apartment, however. Try e-mailing [email protected].

Sestri Levante is both beautiful and non-touristy Italian, and wonderfully located on the train line. It's a substantial town, often packed with Italian families having fun. There's lots of enjoyable, affordable restaurants. Again, I would try to find an apartment for 6 nights, and since Sestri caters to Italians-speakers, you'll have to do. Were I staying in Sestri Levante, I would use the local buses for amazingly short trips into the mountain towns, where great eats abound along with dramatic architecture and you will have a real sense of adventure.

Lastly, I'll just toss this out: if you were thinking you might like to day trip both into Tuscany and parts of Liguria, consider La Spezia itself. It's the naval port of Italy and up to its eyeballs in industrial blight, but it's got highly regarded museums, some of the most authentic food in the region, and lots of good train connections in all directions. But few scenic sunset strolls like the other Riviera coastal towns.

If you do nothing else, for six nights in Liguria, you should invest in David Downie's guide to the Food and Wine of Genova and the Italian Riviera. It is food focused, but highly budget friendly, but also has great descriptions of the towns to give you a feel for them. The Cadogan Guide to Piemonte and the Italian Riviera is exhaustive, and the Italian Touring Club Guide to the Riviera is out of print in English, but sometimes still available in used copies from Amazon.

But don't sweat your trip. Somewhat against my will, I stumbled into the Riviera the first time, picking a town almost by accident, didn't do ANYTHING for 3 days despite my plans to be a good tourist, and ended up living here. It's just BELLA, so come enjoy, no worries.

Sorry -- made a type right off the bat!

I meant to type "There is no train station in Lerici, and while the advertised 15-bus ride to and from the LA SPEZIA station is probably reliable..."

I prefer Rapallo to SML and have not yet been to Lerici. Rapallo has a nice variety of dining options, a nice waterfront promenade, an enjoyable public market on certain days and great access. We walked from the station to our hotel, the Europa, in 5 minutes, took the ferry to Portofino and SML and just really enjoyed the ambiance of the town itself.

Camogli has been very highly spoken of on this forum by posters whose opinion I have come to value. Not sure about public transport though and that is a must for us personally.

Camogli pretty much shares the same train, bus and boat transportion options as Rapallo, but it is almost completely pedestrianized and while Rapallo is mainly flat, Camogli necessitates climbing stairs.

PS: Camogli is also much tinier.

I agree with Zeppole 100%. Didn't know about lack of train service in Lerici... but we live in Rapallo, and what he says is true. Also agree 100% about Chiavari which is one of the Riviera's best-kept secrets. SML has a population of about 5,000 and is very touristy, and priced accordingly... worth visiting, but maybe not the place to stay. Rapallo has a pop of about 30,000 and is home to a broad spectrum of people, which makes it (in our opinion) more interesting, and there are many hotel choices (apt. rental an excellent option). Ditto Chiavari (pop 27,000). Rapallo and Chiavari are equally convenient in terms of transport to other places - though Chiavari is further south (east) and therefore closer to Cinque Terre, Lerici, Pisa, Firenze. Rapallo closer to Genova (but the diff is about 10 minutes by train - and the trains are relatively frequent in both towns, also in SML). (Rapallo's market is Thursday, SML is Friday, as is (I think) Chiavari.) Camoglie is gorgeous and will give you the sunset that Monte di Portofino robs from SML and Rapallo; it is very steep, full of stairs, and is also on the costly side. But a required sunset visit. Instead of La Spezia, you might think about Levanto, which lacks La Spezia's industrial build-up. But of the three you've suggested, Rapallo is, according to me, your best bet. Zeppole is right (again!) - you won't go wrong no matter where you are!

Thank you so much for these replies. Chiavari sounds very tempting but, due to problems finding accommodation, I think we are going to opt for Rapallo. We'll try to find something on the outskirts so we get the best of both worlds. This sounds ideal for us, I love to be around Italian people going about their daily business and it sounds large enough for us to have the chance of finding some of the lovely family run Restaurants we've been fortunate enough to stumble open from time to time in other parts of Italy. While we will not be venturing far out of Liguria (we holidayed in Tuscany this year) we will definitely be making trips to Camogli, Chiavari and, following Zeppole's comments, Genova. No doubt we will also be regular visitors to Frigidarium. I can hardly wait, roll on next June.

Thanks again.

Yardbird,

The further out you move from the center of Rapallo and the sea, the more likely you are to get intense traffic noise. Much of the historic center is pedestrianized. The many of the seaside hotels have park-like surroundings. Also, being within walking distance of the train and bus station (they are next to each other) will really facilitate your getting to other places.

Thank you so much Zeppole. We had actually found what looked lilke a very nice hotel (it has excellent reviews) in San Michele di Pagana. This was at a very good price for the area. I thought this might give us the best of both worlds as it seems to be within 20 minutes walk from Rapallo centre and I found a timetable online which also suggests that buses are very regular from outside the hotel and run late into the evening. We are more amblers than ramblers but don't mind a bit of a walk, but would like a bus for back up! I know you can't choose where we actually decide to go, but I'd be very grateful for your opinion as to whether San Michele is a bit too far out of the way. My husband is very keen on staying in Rapallo itself, right on the seafront, but I'm not so sure.

Thank you again.

We stayed at Hotel Europa and had a room with small terrace with a view to the sea and very much enjoyed it. We like to be able to make quick stops back at hotel throughout the day without a lot of hassle and we are not in the room much so the convenient location was perfect for our needs.

The views from the cafes lining the harbor were wonderful with some of the most dramatic moon scapes I have ever seen

Yardbird,

It's a tough call. San Michele is a fine spot too, and the buses run the other way, too, into Santa Margherita Ligure. One consideration for me would be how much you plan to go day tripping using the train, and whether or not that extra 20 minutes walking or waiting for a bus is going to be a mood killer for either of you. The sun in Liguria can be quite hot. The alleys of Rapallo proper can be shady and breezy. And of course it can rain.

Another consideration for me would be whether car and motorcycle and bus traffic runs right in front of the hotel, between you and the sea. Were I staying in Rapallo, I would want a bit of a quiet private outdoor space (with sea view or not) where I could relax with wine and some of the GREAT food to go you can get from Rapallo's "gastronomia" shops: Salads, salamis, cheeses, fish dishes, rotisserie chickens, etc. I wouldn't want a lot of car traffic right under my nose. (In fact, if possible, getting a room with a kitchenette for a 6-day stay might be great.) I would check that out.

A poster named "cambe" currently has up a trip report about staying in Rapallo at a seafront hotel, and she had a wonderfully cheap rate. She had a very short stay, but you might want to chat with her about her experiences in Rapallo.