Area guide · Liguria
Riviera di Levante
The coast in the shadow of five villages
- Where
- Liguria, provinces of Genova and La Spezia
- Train
- 13 of 19 towns on the railway
- Best months
- July to August
- Sea warm
- June to October
- Towns
- 19, 11 we have written about
The eastern Ligurian coast, eighty kilometers of steep country between Genoa and the Tuscan border at the Magra, with the five famous villages in its middle and better towns everywhere the name runs out. Genoa and Pisa airports sit at either end, the railway runs the whole length, and the beaches are mostly rock.
19 towns
The towns of Riviera di Levante
16 on the water, 3 towns inland. Each card opens the town's own page, with the drive time from the nearest city and whether the train stops there.
- ✷ We've been
Camogli
Where: On the water
A fishing village on the Golfo Paradiso whose nineteenth-century fleet of a thousand white sails made it Italy's third maritime power in the Mediterranean.
Recco
Where: On the water
A coastal town rebuilt from 90 percent destruction in 1943, known for IGP cheese focaccia and Pro Recco water polo.
Bogliasco
Where: On the water
A fishing village on the Riviera di Levante just east of Genoa, built around a 13th-century stone bridge over the Bogliasco torrent and a tight grid of pastel-coloured houses opening onto a pebble cove.
- ✷ We've been
Portofino
Where: On the water
Three hundred and fifty-five residents, the smallest municipal territory in the metropolitan area, and the harbor every superyacht in the Mediterranean wants to anchor in.
Santa Margherita Ligure
Where: On the water
The Tigullio town that kept its fishing port while the world drove past on the way to Portofino two kilometers further.
- ✷ We've been
Rapallo
Where: On the water
The largest town on the Tigullio gulf, twice the location of treaties that redrew borders in postwar Europe.
- ✷ We've been
Chiavari
Where: On the water
The Tigullio capital between Portofino and the Cinque Terre, a 27,000-person Genoese trading town built around a thirteenth-century grid of porticoed streets.
Lavagna
Where: On the water
The Tigullio town that gave its name to slate, and its counts to a line of popes.
- ✷ We've been
Sestri Levante
Where: On the water
The Tigullio town of two bays, split by a peninsula where a river once silted an island to the shore.
Moneglia
Where: On the water
A bay on the Riviera di Levante, closed by two wooded headlands.
Deiva Marina
Where: On the water
A Riviera di Levante seaside commune reachable by sea only after the 1874 railway.
Framura
Where: On the water
Five hamlets between sea level and 300 meters on the Riviera di Levante, with Byzantine watchtowers built against Saracen incursions.
Levanto
Where: On the water
The sixth Cinque Terre, a beach town and Cittaslow at the gateway of the national park, with a surf break and a striped Gothic church.
- ✷ We've been
Portovenere
Where: On the water
A Genoese fortress guards the western mouth of the Gulf of Poets, above the rock where a Roman temple to Venus once stood.
- ✷ We've been
Lerici
Where: On the water
A fishing harbour under a Pisan-Genoese castle, with the frazione of Tellaro hanging over the rocks at the commune's southern edge.
- ✷ We've been
Ameglia
Where: On the water
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.
- ✷ We've been
Sarzana
Where: Inland
The unofficial capital of the Lunigiana on the Magra plain, birthplace of Pope Niccolò V.
- ✷ We've been
Castelnuovo Magra
Where: Inland
A ridge village on the Liguria-Tuscany border where a marquisate treaty ended decades of conflict with the bishops of Luni.
- ✷ We've been
Brugnato
Where: Inland
The medieval ecclesiastical capital of an inland Ligurian valley, seat of a diocese from 1133 to 1820, with a co-cathedral built over a Columban monastery.
Air, rail, road
Getting there, and around
Fly to Florence or Pisa or Genoa, take the train, or drive. Road minutes from the catalogue.
By air
- Florence or Pisa (PSA)1 h 10 min to Lerici
- Genoa (GOA)1 h 39 min to Lerici
By train
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
A station in the commune
No station: Portofino, Portovenere, Lerici, Ameglia, Castelnuovo Magra, Brugnato.
By car
- Camogli33 min from Genova
- Recco25 min from Genova
- Bogliasco16 min from Genova
- Portofino1 h 18 min from Genova
- Santa Margherita Ligure40 min from Genova
- Rapallo30 min from Genova
- Chiavari32 min from Genova
- Lavagna44 min from Genova
- Sestri Levante44 min from Genova
- Moneglia57 min from Genova
- Deiva Marina50 min from Genova
- Framura59 min from Genova
- Levanto1 h 12 min from Genova
- Portovenere1 h 23 min from Pisa
- Lerici1 h 1 min from Pisa
- Ameglia1 h from Pisa
- Sarzana54 min from Pisa
- Castelnuovo Magra59 min from Pisa
- Brugnato1 h 2 min from Genova
Climate, sea, calendar
When to go
The comfortable months are July to August, and the sea is warm enough to swim June to October. Measured at Lerici: the daytime high, the sea, the rain days.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day °C | 12 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 13 |
| Sea °C | 14 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 28 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 15 |
| Rain days | 12 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 16 |
The tinted months are the comfortable ones for the day, and the ones where the sea reaches 20 degrees.
16 towns on the water
The sea
Rock more than sand, and the most turquoise water on the mainland in return. These towns sit on it; each one's page says what kind of shore it has. Warm enough to swim June to October.
- Camogli
Station in town · 33 min from Genova
- Recco
Station in town · 25 min from Genova
- Bogliasco
Station in town · 16 min from Genova
- Portofino
No station · 1 h 18 min from Genova
- Santa Margherita Ligure
Station in town · 40 min from Genova
- Rapallo
Station in town · 30 min from Genova
- Chiavari
Station in town · 32 min from Genova
- Lavagna
Station in town · 44 min from Genova
- Sestri Levante
Station in town · 44 min from Genova
- Moneglia
Station in town · 57 min from Genova
- Deiva Marina
Station in town · 50 min from Genova
- Framura
Station in town · 59 min from Genova
- Levanto
Station in town · 1 h 12 min from Genova
- Portovenere
No station · 1 h 23 min from Pisa
- Lerici
No station · 1 h 1 min from Pisa
- Ameglia
No station · 1 h from Pisa
Our tables first, then the guides
Where to eat and sleep
What the printed guides rate along this coast, with the guide named beside each place.
What the guides rate
Somebody else's recommendations, the guide named beside each. The town pages hold the full lists.
La Loggia Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Gamberi
Da ö Vittorio Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 75/100 · Locali Storici · Michelin Selected
Manuelina Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 79/100 · Locali Storici · Michelin Selected
Il Bistrotto Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Tavole
Piazzetta di Portofino
Locali Storici
Cracco Portofino Ristorante
Michelin 1 Star
DaV Mare Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 85/100 · Michelin Selected
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino Hotel
Michelin 1 Key · La Liste · 92.5
Taverna Colombo Ristorante
Locali Storici
Grand Hotel Miramare Hotel
Michelin 1 Key · Leading Hotels of the World · Locali Storici
Langosteria Paraggi Ristorante
Michelin Selected
ö Magazín In Spiaggia Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Excelsior Palace Hotel Hotel
Locali Storici
Il Salotto Atelier Gourmet Ristorante
Michelin Selected
U Giancu Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 78/100 · Slow Food Chiocciola
Grand Hotel Bristol Spa Resort Hotel
Michelin Guide selection
Antica Osteria Luchin Ristorante
Locali Storici
Gran caffè Defilla Caffè
Locali Storici
Da Felice Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand
Lord Nelson Ristorante
Michelin Selected
Impronta d'Acqua Ristorante
Michelin 1 Star · Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 83/100
Raieü Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand · Gambero Rosso 2 Gamberi · Slow Food Chiocciola
Aria Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 80/100 · Michelin Selected
Radical Farmhouse Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Pasticcerie Rossignotti Pasticceria
Locali Storici
Rezzano Cucina e Vino Ristorante
Michelin 1 Star · Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 82/100
Baia del Silenzio Ristorante
Michelin Selected
Le Cantine Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 79/100 · Michelin Selected
L'Agave Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 79/100 · Michelin Selected
La Sosta di Ottone III Ristorante
Michelin Selected
Tre Torri Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Gamberi
Ristorante Portivene Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Il Fico trentacareghe Ristorante
Michelin Selected
La Barca Ristorante
Gambero Rosso listed
Pescarino-Sapori di Terra e di Mare Ristorante
Michelin Selected
LUV Ristorante Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 82/100
Pasticceria Gemmi il Loggiato Pasticceria
Locali Storici
Il Cardinale Vino e Cucina Ristorante
Michelin Bib Gourmand · Gambero Rosso 2 Gamberi
Piccolo Ristorante Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 2 Forchette · 81/100
Rondò Ristorante
Gambero Rosso 1 Forchetta · 77/100
Go deeper
The letter
This page is the where and when. The long version, and the towns' own letters, are in the Sunday letter's archive.
The Sunday letter
Riviera di Levante got its letter. One town every Sunday, free. The photo, the food, the festa.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter
The long version, in the letter
The Riviera di LevanteThe coast in the shadow of five villagesOur other guides