Portovenere

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, PortoVenere perches on the western Gulf of Poets promontory, an area in the Gulf of La Spezia once popular with Byron, Shelley, Dante and DH Lawrence.

Colourful houses line the little harbour and narrow medieval lanes lead up the hill to the Chiesa di San Lorenzo, built in 1130. Nearby, the 16th-century Castello Doria offers magnificent views from its terraced gardens. Portovenere’s San Pietro Church occupies a site believed to have been a temple to Venus – Venere in Italian – from which the port gets its name.

Enter Portovenere’s Medieval Centre via the ancient city gate. Shops and restaurants line Capellini, the narrow main street.

From the quay you can see across to Cinque Terre and the rocky terraces of Grotta Arpaia or Byron’s grotto, where the poet once swam across the bay to Lerici. Traces of a pagan temple have been uncovered on the quay inside the Chiesa di San Pietro, built in 1277. Just off the promontory lie the tiny islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto.