My 3 daughters (ages 23, 15 and 14) and I will be traveling to the Cinque Terre area in the middle of October. We would like to spend some time in Cinque Terre and Genoa and will be flying in and out of Pisa. In your opinion should we stay in La Spezia or Levanto or somewhere else? We like to shop, hike and eat :)
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I've stayed in Levanto twice. I think it's a great base for visiting the CInque Terre - itself a nice town. I haven't actually visited La Spezia outside of the train station, so I can't compare, but in my understanding, Levanto is considered a more appealing town.
You could stay elsewhere especially if you want to visit Genoa too. Genoa is an easy day trip by train from any of the towns in or near the Cinque Terre towns. I recently spent a few nights in the lovely town of Camogli (north of Levanto maybe an hour by train) - compared to the CT towns or even Levanto, not touristy at all. I was there in May and it wasn't busy; I'm guessing October wouldn't be, either. Because there is frequent train service up and down the corridor between La Spezia and Genoa, you could really stay in almost any town in between.
Posted by
Chicago
8239 posts
the bottom line it seems you will stay where you can afford you do not say the range; the longer you wait to decide the less choices.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16219 posts
Neither La Spezia nor Levanto will provide outstanding shopping opportunities. One is a small size industrial and Navy port city the other is a small beach town. If you like ugly industria port towns La Spezia is for you, if you don't, then Levanto is preferable. The Cinque Terre, which are 5 villages, are in between the two. Any of the 5 are quaint and pretty, albeit at times crowded with tourists. Hiking opportunities are plentiful in the Cinque Terre.
In Italy you can eat well pretty much anywhere, so that should never be a factor in a town choice.
One more thing. Genoa is, IMAO, one of the ugliest cities in Italy (another industrial port city, but large). Although there are some things that may be interesting to see, however I generally like to stay somewhere else (the surrounding area is beautiful) and visit Genoa from there. Camogli, Santa Margherita, Moneglia, are some of the nearby towns that would be preferable to staying in the city itself.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32401 posts
Leslie,
Why not stay in one of the five towns of the Cinque Terre? I agree with Roberto in terms of skipping Genova, as there are better locations to spend your time.