This article covers some places in Italy that I wasn't aware of, but would definitely like to explore on a future trip.....
https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/bay-of-poets-ligurian-coast-region-italy
Hopefully they won't get inundated with visitors as a result of this article.
It’s not a “new” area - it’s existed for millions of years! It’s also not undiscovered, as a British friend of a friend has a holiday home there and says it gets busy particularly in the summer.
We have ventured to Lerici and Porto Venere while staying in the Cinque Terre. Since it was October, both were relatively quiet. The ferry ride to PV is lovely and Lerici has a great bay front to walk. It would be harder to stay there without a car as there is only bus service but it is a relief from the overcrowded 5 towns!
It's amazing what you can discover when you are willing to go to places that RS doesn't mention.
Thanks for posting, Ken, people need to see that there are wonderful alternatives all over Italy. However, travelers shouldn't assume the places mentioned are undiscovered or that they are uncrowded. Every place mentioned has been a well known tourist destination for many decades - that's what Liguria does. Italian vacationers swamp every one of these towns in season. Lerici is also a particular favorite of British visitors and D. H. Lawrence wrote about its outlying frazione of Tellaro almost a century ago. For undiscovered, I suggest driving up the nearby valley of the Magra from Sarzana and exploring Filetto, Filattiera, Bagnone, Malgrate, and Pontremoli.
Thanks Ken for sharing this. In a previous thread from 2019 I discussed our stay in Monterosso (2006). Our guides aunt lived in Levanto (commune in the province of La Spezia). Our highlight was having a wonderful Pasta lunch at “Zita’s.” Perched on the top of a hill with a lovely view of the hillside area. The best Tiramisu we had on our culinary tour of Tuscany & Umbria!
https://m.yelp.com/biz/antiga-ustaia-zita-levanto
We visited Tellaro and Lerici one year as we drove from Tuscany to Milan and the area was wonderful. We had a seaview room in a hotel with Michelin restaurant, which I was looking forward to. What I didn’t realize until we arrived, it was a national Italian holiday weekend and all restaurants were booked solid - lesson learned! We always like to spend part of trip ‘off the beaten path’ and make our own discoveries. Quite fun. Our favorite area less known to Americans is north and west of Bolzano. A mix of Italian and German.
We like Portovenere much more than le Cinque Terre. It is beautiful, a larger town/ small city with lots of history. It is not undiscovered at all and has a rich history!
When we were there, boats went to the Cinque Terre from Portovenere. I wonder why Travel and Leisure calls it undiscovered?
Lucca is one of my favorite places, have been there twice, for 2 nights each time. I even named my dog Lucca, after the town, and not spelling it Luca!
