The Gulf of Poets

This week we've been hanging around Italy's Gulf of Poets, the broad bay around La Spezia.  I tell you, if you're tired of the guidebook toting tourists clogging the footpaths of the Cinque Terre, get thee to Il Gulfo dei Poeti. Towns like the pictured Tellaro, plus Lerici, Portovenere, Fiascherino, Montemarchello and San Terenzo (where Shelley and Byron where staying when Shelley had his boating accident) are all places Italians flock to for the area's stunning beauty and to take a dip in the Med.

Tellaro, a small Ligurian fishing village located 4 km east of Lerici and accessible by summer ferry, has some pretty nice restaurants, including the oft recommended Locanda Miranda on via Fiascherino 92, which was awarded a Michelin star for its seafood menu. There's also the local favorite N'ta Grita, where you can broil your selection on a lava rock, if you want. Cars aren't allowed into the main parts of the village between 7 pm and 1 am--so you can enjoy your wandering night life in peace.

From the big port of La Spezia you can get a ferry to Lerici, Tellaro, and Portovenere, to mention a few destinations. You can also take the boat to the Cinque Terre and Portofino--not to mention Corsica and Sardinia.

Travel Resources: Cinque Terre | Portofino Pictures