Originally, I had planned to visit the Cinque Terre until Friday. However, given our fast pace and the amazing weather, we had hiked to the last village, Riomaggiore, on Thursday. That meant that I had one bonus day in Liguria. The idea? Going to La Spezia by train, visit the city and go on a boat trip to see the villages from another point of view. At the time, Porto Venere was just an idea in the back of my mind.
Going To La Spezia
I left Corniglia in the morning after managing to fit my suitcase in the hostel‘s free lockers (seriously, I was impressed). Once in the train station, I bought a ticket to La Spezia and decided I would improvise from there.
Honestly, my morale was down and I was tired. The previous days were incredible and I had a great time chatting with Anthéa, so I wasn’t very excited about spending the day alone. But I thought that since I could spend another day in this beautiful region, I should make the best of it.
La Spezia was not the kind of place where I wanted to be at that moment. After visiting all these beautiful and colourful towns, I really didn’t feel like being in a big city. It felt like I was back from a dream… And I didn’t want to wake up so soon. Still, I visited La Spezia, climbed to the castle (but didn’t enter), I saw some street art, cute squares, but most of it didn’t feel welcoming.
An Improvised Boat Trip To Porto Venere
So I went to the harbour and found a company that sold boat tours tickets. The boat trip to the Cinque Terre was a hop and off trip whereas I just wanted to see the villages from the sea. Plus, it cost 32 euros, a bit too much for my budget. The girl in the booth told me about another trip that was cheaper: a return trip to Porto Venere for 15 euros. I wasn’t sure, so I said I would think about it.
In the end, after failing to find a cheaper company and considering my options, I bought the ticket to Porto Venere. It looked nice and I had heard great things about this village that couldn’t be reached by train. Next departure: 2 pm! It would make me arrive in Genoa later than I had planned to, but I was willing to try and have a good day.
Arriving In Porto Venere And Feeling The Atmosphere Change
The boat was nearly full. We sailed next to colourful villages. For a second, I thought that they were part of the Cinque Terre, but no, they were just other cute Ligurian towns. Since the trains take just a few minutes to go from one village to another, I thought that the boat trip was going to be quick. In reality, it takes so much more time. Just to reach Porto Venere, it took 40 minutes from La Spezia! Now, I understood better why the boat trip prices were quite high compared to the 5 euros train tickets.
And 40 minutes were quite enough, the wind was cold and I was running out of additional clothes to wear. As soon as I saw Porto Venere’s harbour, I started to feel happy. The colours were so warm and it felt like I was back to my dream vacation. The atmosphere changed, people were more relaxed (except for the boat employees). Two old fishermen were untangling a fishing net, the sun was shining on the sea and I could see a striped church at the top of the hill.
Climbing Up To San Pietro Church
I wandered around the shops near the harbour before heading to San Pietro Church. Located at the top of a cliff, it looked majestic. Of course, again, I had to climb some stairs, but they were easy compared to those going from Manarola to Riomaggiore.
Plus, there were so many reasons to stop on the way: an old wall was on the right side of the path and there were windows offering great views of the sea. There was even a “door” at some point and steps going down to the sea. Some people were sitting there admiring the waves, others dipped their feet in the water and sunbathed. Further on the right side, there was some kind of cave carved into the cliff. I wondered if you could visit it by boat or swim in it. Maybe it had been a hideout for pirates some centuries ago…
Finally, I arrived at the church. It was a bit too dark for my taste, but very nice in its simplicity. I liked its precise stripes. It had a weird green door with emaciated characters sculpted on it. In the end, the best part of going to the church was the view and the windows favourable to dreams and imagination.
Climbing To Porto Venere’s Castle
While I was going down the stairs of San Pietro, I spotted another street going up, but towards the village. Orange and yellow walls convinced me that it was the right way to go and continue exploring Porto Venere. I actually ended up higher up than I was before, right at the top of the hill. I walked next to two churches and the path ended at the foot of the castle. The azure blue of the sea reminded me of Malta.
As I reached the castle, I saw two old ladies talking. One was saying “Sarà Italiana questa” (This one must be Italian). I looked at them and said “No, ma capisco” (No, but I understand). They came to see me, one of the ladies had some trouble with her phone and she thought I could help. What happened was that she wanted to take more pictures, but she had no memory space left. I told her that she had to delete some photos. The other lady said “I told you!”. But the first one exclaimed “But I love them all, I want to keep them!”. They were so funny. We chatted for a while, they congratulated me on my Italian, and that made me happy.
After a short break, I started going back to the harbour. I walked in the cute little streets and bought a focaccia. And then, I went back to the boat.
A Speedy Return To Genoa
The return trip from Porto Venere to La Spezia lasted more than what was written on the brochure and I wasn’t sure I would make it in time for the 5.15 pm train I wanted to take to go back to Corniglia. We arrived at the harbour at 5 pm. According to Google Maps, I would arrive at the station just in time to see my train leave… But I tried anyway, firing up my weary legs, and I actually made it on time to the train station. But I still had to buy a ticket and both machines were occupied. And by very slow people… Oh my God, for a moment, I thought I would miss my train despite being at the station on time. But I didn’t! I bought my ticket 4 minutes before the departure and ran to the train.
I was so happy with myself and busy catching my breath that I nearly missed the stop in Corniglia. Once there, I had exactly one hour to climb to the village, grab my luggage and go back to the train station to buy my ticket and go. Once again, I succeeded and even got the time to buy some magnets from a shop I had spotted on my first day in Corniglia.
At 8.15 pm, I arrived in Genoa.
If you want to read more about the Cinque Terre, here is my article about how I failed three times to go there and here is the article where I tell you about the fourth time that was a success. Finally, you can read about the hikes here.
To see more photos of Italy, you can visit the gallery Italy.
