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Sestri Levante, Liguria
Coat of arms of Sestri Levante

Liguria · Genova

Sestri Levante

The Tigullio town of two bays, split by a peninsula where a river once silted an island to the shore.

By Peter Benei

Written about. No. 28.

Our take

Tigullio Roadtrip | Four Versions of the Same Liguria

A steep hill falls into the sea. The houses are crammed on the slope and painted in bright colors because they are old, packed tight, and need help. There is a small port if the cove allows it and a bigger port if the cove is generous. There is a small piazza around a small church, with maybe four restaurants, three bars, and a gelato place. There is no space for a grand square, because there is no space for grand anything in Liguria.

From the letter, June 2026

Read the full letter, for members

Sestri Levante is in our free Riviera di Levante guide

Visiting

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
44 min from Genoa
By train
Station in the comune
Population
17,240

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • 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 14°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.

Why come

Sestri Levante sits at the head of the Tigullio gulf, forty kilometers southeast of Genova, on a former island the Gromolo river silted into a peninsula by the eighteenth century. Roman Segesta Tigullorum was the predecessor; the town joined the Republic of Genova in 1133. The peninsula splits the coast into two bays that face different ways and carry different names.

To the north lies the long beach known as the Bay of Fables, named by a television host in a 1950s broadcast for the Danish writer who stayed here in 1833. To the south lies the smaller, quieter bay, named by a Ligurian poet in 1919. Between them, on the high ground of the peninsula, stands the old watchtower where an inventor ran some of his most advanced shortwave radio work, work significant enough that the Navy renamed the gulf itself for him. A town this small holds a beach with a literary name, a bay with a poet's name, and a headland with an engineer's name, three separate claims to attention pressed into one stretch of coast shaped by a silted river.

How to get there

From Genoa (GOA), about 54 min by car.

Pisa (PSA) is about 1 h 36 min away.

By car from the center of Pisa 1 h 27 min or Parma 1 h 56 min.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Genoa, Pisa or Florence?

Coming by train into Genova Piazza Principe? Sestri Levante is about 51 min away by road.

Every town within reach of Genoa airport.

First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.

Sestri Levante, Liguria
Sestri Levante, Liguria

What to see

  • Baia del Silenzio

    Smaller southern bay enclosed by colorful seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses, named by poet Giovanni Descalzo in 1919.

  • Baia delle Favole

    Long northern beach and the Bandiera Blu stretch of the town, its name recalling Hans Christian Andersen, who looked out over the water from his inn.

  • Torre Marconi

    Old watchtower on the heights of the peninsula where Guglielmo Marconi carried out shortwave radio experiments in 1933 and 1934.

  • Basilica di Santa Maria di Nazareth

    Seventeenth-century parish basilica between the two bays, rebuilt in Baroque style with a high single-nave interior.

  • MuSeL

    Museum of Sestri Levante in the former Convent of the Annunciation, with archaeology, fine art, and rotating exhibitions.

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.

  • Le CantineRistorante

    One Gambero Rosso fork (79/100) for Le Cantine, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Rezzano Cucina e VinoRistorante

    Rezzano Cucina e Vino holds one Michelin star and two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100).

  • Baia del SilenzioRistorante

    Baia del Silenzio holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.

4 more places the guides name in Sestri Levante

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?

Sestri Levante meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.

  • 17,240 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
  • Genova, a city of 564,080, is 44 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
  • A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.

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.

How we choose a town, and every town by these rules.

  • Population 17,240, down 6.7% since 2015
  • Nearest city Genoa, 44 min drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
  • Homes in the center: €3,800 to €6,200 per m² to buy, €7.00 to €12.30 per m² a month to rent

Weighing a move here? See the moving year.

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 47% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
  • Genoa airport (GOA), 54 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
  • Regional capital Genoa, 44 min drive

If you are moving here

Sestri Levante

Who lives here

9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Bangladesh and Ecuador, against 9% across Italy. 44 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. There are 327 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 45% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Genoa province ranks 43rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.

Health and schools

The nearest emergency room is in Lavagna, 4 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Genoa, 44 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in La Spezia, 38 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 34 km as the crow flies.

Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.

Taxes

A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds between 0.4% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €12,000. 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. In Genoa, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.28, a meal in a pizzeria €11.86 and a man's haircut €17.37.

What it costs to live in Italy.

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. 10% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 23% in a high or medium one. 2% 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

  • BAIA DEL SILENZIO

    The smaller of the two bays, ringed by pastel houses, named by the Ligurian poet Giovanni Descalzo in 1919.

  • HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN

    The children's literature prize named for him has run here since 1967.

  • MARCONI

    The Italian Navy renamed the gulf in his honor after his 1933-1934 shortwave experiments on the peninsula.

Common questions

What is Sestri Levante known for?
Sestri Levante is the Tigullio town of two bays, split by a peninsula where a river once silted an island to the shore.
Where is Sestri Levante?
Sestri Levante is a comune in the province of Genova, in Liguria, at 10 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Sestri Levante?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Genoa (GOA), about 54 min by car.
Can you get to Sestri Levante without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Pisa to Sestri Levante?
About 1 h 27 min by car.
When is the best time to visit Sestri Levante?
Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
Which other towns are like Sestri Levante?
Taggia, Varazze and Finale Ligure.
How many people live in Sestri Levante?
17,240 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
Is Sestri Levante a good place to live?
By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Sestri Levante is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Genova, is 44 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 47% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 10 m
  • Population: 17,240
  • Surface area: 33.62 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 Sestri Levante appears in

All the ranked lists ›

Near here, with a letter

Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.