🇮🇹 La Spezia, Italy — Cruise Port Guide
Tucked into the deep natural harbour of the Gulf of Poets, La Spezia is the workaday Ligurian naval city that hides the keys to the kingdom: from its station, trains dart in minutes to the five pastel villages of the Cinque Terre.
Updated September 2026
Quick facts
Getting ashore
When to visit La Spezia
Peak cruise season runs April through October, with July and August hot, humid and extremely crowded. May, June and September offer the best mix of hiking weather, open ferry routes and thinner crowds.
Getting back to the ship on time
In peak season the Cinque Terre Express and village lanes can be shoulder-to-shoulder, and packed platforms or train delays can eat into your window. Leave a generous buffer for the return leg to La Spezia Centrale and the shuttle back to the ship.
All-aboard is ship's time — check it in the daily programme, and set your watch to it.
Things to do in La Spezia
Cinque Terre village-hopping by train
Ride the Cinque Terre Express from La Spezia Centrale and hop between Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso, each 8-22 minutes apart.
Manarola viewpoint walk
Walk Manarola's harbour promontory for the classic postcard view of rainbow houses stacked above the sea.
Boat trip to Portovenere
Ferries cross the Gulf of Poets to Portovenere's striped San Pietro church, Byron's Grotto and the Doria castle on the cliffs.
Lerici and San Terenzo beaches
Bus or boat around the gulf to Lerici's medieval castle and the sandy beaches of San Terenzo, once home to the Shelleys.
Castello San Giorgio & Naval Museum
Climb to La Spezia's 13th-century hilltop castle for gulf views, then browse ship figureheads and naval relics at the Arsenale's museum.
Pisa day trip
Direct regional trains reach Pisa in about 50-60 minutes for the Leaning Tower, Duomo and Baptistery.
Popular excursions
Cinque Terre by boat & train
Vernazza, Monterosso and the cliff-hung villages of the UNESCO coast.
Portovenere & Gulf of Poets
Ferry past Byron's grotto to the striped Church of St Peter.
What to eat
- Trofie al pesto
- Mesciua (chickpea, bean & farro soup)
- Farinata (chickpea pancake)
- Focaccia ligure
- Muscoli ripieni (stuffed mussels)
Weather by month
Best time to visit: May–Sep (dry summer)
| Month | High | Low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 53° | 40° | 4.1" |
| Feb | 54° | 41° | 3.7" |
| Mar | 58° | 45° | 3.9" |
| Apr | 63° | 50° | 3.9" |
| May | 70° | 56° | 3.1" |
| Jun | 77° | 63° | 2.4" |
| Jul | 82° | 67° | 1.4" |
| Aug | 82° | 67° | 2.4" |
| Sep | 77° | 62° | 4.3" |
| Oct | 69° | 55° | 6.5" |
| Nov | 60° | 47° | 6.5" |
| Dec | 54° | 42° | 4.7" |
Local phrases
A little history
The five Cinque Terre villages, together with Portovenere and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 for their thousand-year-old terraced landscape.
La Spezia sits on the Golfo dei Poeti, the 'Gulf of Poets', named for the Romantic poets Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley who lived and sailed here; Shelley drowned in these waters in 1822 after setting sail for Lerici.
La Spezia has been Italy's principal naval base since its great military Arsenale opened in 1869, and the adjacent Naval Technical Museum holds figureheads, torpedoes and relics of Italian maritime history.
Portovenere, at the tip of the gulf, is crowned by the striped Gothic church of San Pietro built in 1277 on a rocky promontory beside Byron's Grotto, where the poet is said to have swum.