We explored the Italian Riviera by walking sections of the Cinque Terre and the Portofino Peninsula from Santa Margherita to Portofino. For Cinque Terre, we used the riverport town of La Spezia as our base. La Spezia’s fishing harbour has a very popular fish restaurant & a nearby modern bridge (Thaon di Revel) goes to Porto Mirabello Yacht Harbour. The port area has a lovely shady promenade and public gardens where the locals gather. From La Spezia, we took coast train to Monterosso al Mare, which is at one end of the Cinque Terre. After exploring the town, we hiked to Vernazza. The path climbs steeply through vineyards and olive groves with spectacular coastal views. Vernazza is a charming fishing village with quaint narrow streets. The village is centred around a harbour and it’s main square, Piazza Marconi. The Church of Santa Margherita di Antiochia overlooks the sea, the ruins of the 15th century Doria castle was built to protect the village from pirates. From Vernazza we continued along the cliff trails to Corniglia, again with fantastic coastline views. Corniglia is about midway on the Cinque Terre, a small town perched up on the cliffs with no access to the sea. We visited the Church of San Pietro and then descended the Lardarina stairway to Corniglia railway station to catch a train as the next part of the trail was closed due to mudslides. Via the Cinque Terre railway, we visited Manarola before continuing onto Riomaggiore to meet our boat.The sunset boat cruise took us along the coast from Riomaggiore to Portovenere. At Portovenere we explored the Church of St. Peter and Byron's Grotto by moonlight before catching a bus back to La Spezia.
Travelling further round the coast of the Italian Riviera we stopped at Santa Margherita. We visited the Basilica of Santa Margherita of Antioch in Piazza Caprera and wondered through its narrow streets. Its harbour foreshore has a statue of Christopher Columbus, a local born in close-by Genoa. Santa Margherita has a scenic walkway around an harbour lined with elegant hotels and villas that continues to Paraggi Bay with it's beach and castle. From here the path climbs through woods giving spectacular coastal views ‘til descending into Portofino Bay. After exploring a Medieval yellow striped Church of San Martino perched above Portofino, we descended to this famous Italian fishing village with its picturesque harbour, expensive yachts and upmarket resorts. From its harbourside Piazzetta, we walked passed pink meercats of an outdoor sculpture Park Museum to a path through the gardens of Castello Brown which is perched high on a cliff overlooking Portofino. The castle was built in the 1500s as a defense against the Turks. The path also leads to the little yellow Church of St Giorgio. St George is Portofino's patron saint. The mosaic terrace in front of the church gives great views across Portofino Bay. We returned to Santa Margherita by ferry to catch the train to Asti.