Liguria · La Spezia
Lerici
A fishing harbor under a Pisan-Genoese castle, with the frazione of Tellaro hanging over the rocks at the commune's southern edge.
By Peter Benei
Written about. No. 17.
The letter
Lerici got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 1 min from Pisa
- Population
- 9,245
- J12°
- F13°
- M15°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A29°
- S25°
- O21°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 13°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
The Gulf of La Spezia takes its eastern shore here, and the playwright Sem Benelli named that shore the Bay of Poets in 1910, nearly a century after Byron and Shelley made it their address. The fortress that defines the harbor was begun by the Pisans in 1152 to control the gulf, captured by the Genoese in 1256, and rebuilt in its present pentagonal form through the 14th and 15th centuries; it now holds a paleontology museum with Jurassic dinosaur tracks recovered from the local sandstone. Shelley lived at a house in nearby San Terenzo in 1822, he drowned that summer sailing from Livorno, and Byron swam across the bay from Portovenere on his way to visit him.
Beyond the historic harbor the commune stretches south past a colourful frazione perched on a rocky promontory above the sea, a member of the Borghi più belli d'Italia network in its own right; a coastal trail links the two through olive terraces and pine woods. The town beach holds a Bandiera Blu and the harbor fills with sailing dinghies all summer. Upper fortress and lower water, working harbor and outlying fishing hamlet: the whole gulf edge here reads as one address that two poets happened to share, and the parts of the commune as its castle, its beach, and its outpost on the rocks.
How to get there
From Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 10 min by car.
Genoa (GOA) is about 1 h 39 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 1 h 1 min or Parma 1 h 40 min.
Driving in is restricted: 3 limited traffic zones are mapped here (ZTL Via Matteotti Lerici, ZTL Galleria Primacina Lerici, ZTL Via Biaggini 2ª Traversa). Check the signs and the times before you drive into the center.
Coming by train into Livorno Centrale? Lerici is about 1 h 2 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Pisa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello di Lerici
Begun by the Pisans in 1152, captured by Genoa in 1256, rebuilt in its present form in the 14th-15th centuries. The pentagonal walls still hold the harbor under them, and the paleontology museum inside keeps the Jurassic tracks pulled from the local sandstone.
Bay of Poets / Casa Magni
The Casa Magni at San Terenzo, a Lerici frazione, was Shelley's residence in 1822, the year he drowned in the bay. The house still stands on the shore that gave the Bay of Poets its name.
Tellaro
Pastel-coloured fishing frazione clinging to a rocky promontory at the southern edge of the bay. Linked to Lerici by the coastal Castelnuovo trail.
Spiaggia di Lerici
Town beach with a Bandiera Blu and a clear view of the castle. The harbor fills with sailing dinghies and the gulf's sailing-school fleet through the summer.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Il Fico trentacaregheRistorante
Il Fico trentacareghe carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
La BarcaRistorante
La Barca holds a Gambero Rosso listing.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Lerici meets our one rule for a small town.
- 9,245 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- La Spezia, a city of 92,706, is 23 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 9,245, down 8% since 2015
- Nearest city La Spezia, 23 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Sarzana, 6 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,800 to €5,900 per m² to buy, €8.00 to €13.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 17% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Pisa airport (PSA), 1 h 10 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Genoa, 1 h 30 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Albania and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 110 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. There are 467 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 51% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. La Spezia province ranks 42nd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Sarzana, 6 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Pisa, 57 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in La Spezia, 8 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 81 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Bilingual School Lucca, 54 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.13% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €28,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Liguria spends about €2,230 a month, €490 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €552 a year for water, on the Liguria average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 4% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 5% in a high or medium one. 9% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
CASTLE
Pentagonal Pisan-Genoese fortress on the harbor, with a paleontology museum holding Jurassic dinosaur tracks.
POETS' BAY
Eastern shore of the Gulf of La Spezia where Byron and Shelley wrote and swam in the early 19th century.
TELLARO
The commune's southern frazione, a borghi più belli member with houses stacked on a rocky promontory above the sea.
Common questions
- What is Lerici known for?
- Lerici is a fishing harbor under a Pisan-Genoese castle, with the frazione of Tellaro hanging over the rocks at the commune's southern edge.
- Where is Lerici?
- Lerici is a comune in the province of La Spezia, in Liguria, at 10 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Lerici?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Pisa (PSA), about 1 h 10 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Lerici?
- About 1 h 1 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Lerici?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Lerici?
- Portovenere, Recco and Santa Margherita Ligure.
- How many people live in Lerici?
- 9,245 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Lerici a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Lerici is a small town that meets our one rule. The nearest city, La Spezia, is 23 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Sarzana, 6 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 17% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 10 m
- Population: 9,245
- Surface area: 16.01 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Lerici appears in
- The 6 best hidden coastal towns within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisacoastalwithin 90 minhidden6 towns · smallest 3,201 residents · closest 38 min away
- The best beach towns within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisaclean beachwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 6,666 residents · closest 29 min away
- The best coastal towns inside a nature park within 90 minutes of PisaNear Pisacoastalinside a parkwithin 90 min6 towns · smallest 3,201 residents · closest 29 min away
- The best hidden coastal towns in the province of La SpeziaLa Spezia provincecoastalhidden6 towns · smallest 553 residents
- The best towns inside a nature park that have a serious restaurant in LiguriaLiguriainside a parkserious restaurant6 towns · smallest 351 residents
- The prettiest villages inside a nature park in LiguriaLiguriainside a parkprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 389 residents
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 53.
Portovenere
Province: La Spezia
A Genoese fortress guards the western mouth of the Gulf of Poets, above the rock where a Roman temple to Venus once stood.
7 km away
- Written about. No. 20.
Sarzana
Province: La Spezia
The unofficial capital of the Lunigiana on the Magra plain, birthplace of Pope Niccolò V.
18 min by car
- Written about. No. 18.
Ameglia
Province: La Spezia
A hilltop borgo at 89 meters above the mouth of the Magra, the Lunigiana edge of Liguria where the river meets the Gulf of Poets.
19 min by car
The letter
Lerici got its letter. One town at a time, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.