HK Independent Traveller Blog

  After a nice day in Portovenere , we headed to Lerici for another wonderful day. The part at the shore including the San Giorgio Castle was in the shadow around 10 am. It was very windy. So, an excuse to have a second breakfast. We randomly went to a café at via Roma.  It offers many choices of coffee and sweets. The staff was very nice.  Many guests were gathering inside for endless chats.   Around 11am we started a hike from Lerici to Tellaro via La Serra and Fiascherino . The starting point is left to the bakery Punto Caldo Casalini (bread sold out at evening & long queue during the day) at the Piazza Garibaldi.  A tall and strong guy was taking his wet kayak / canoe uphill, ahead of us and disappeared soon.  The most tiring part is the stairs and ways up and up to La Serra . The rest is easy and not steep. Clear signs are never short. The path is dotted with beautiful flowers, wonderful jasmine fragrance and breathtaking scenes over the Gulf of La Spezia / Poets . Wows

  Portovenere sits at the tip of the rocky promontory that separates the Golfo dei Poeti (also known as the Golfo di La Spezia ) from the Cinque Terre .  Some people  named it the sixth town of  Cinque Terre for its splendid seaside settings, extraordinarily scenic coastlines and walking trails as offered by the nearby five Cinque Terre towns.  But I think the San Pietro Church, Castello Doria, the nearby islands and the far less crowded situation attributing to the uniqueness of Portovenere.   https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/ Portovenere was once a fortified fishing village and is now a bustling little resort surrounded by green hills and olive groves. The area is a natural park ( parconaturaleportovenere.it ) and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . To the left is one of the most beautiful  striped churches in Liguria , San Pietro Church . To the right is the mighty Castello Doria which dates from the 12th-century. It’s a bit steep to climb over to reach it to have breathtaking