Lonely Planet Pocket Genoa & Cinque Terre
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About this ebook
Lonely Planet: The world's number one travel guide publisher*
Lonely Planet Pocket Genoa & Cinque Terre is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Delight in the artistic skill of the old masters at the Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa, hike between colourful Cinque Terre villages on the famous Sentiero Azzurro, commune with poets while sailing the Golfo dei Poeti - all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of the best of Genoa & Cinque Terre and begin your journey now!
Inside Lonely Planet Pocket Genoa & Cinque Terre:
- Full-colour maps and images throughout
- Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
- Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
- Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
- Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
- Free, convenient pull-out Genoa map (included in print version), plus over 17 colour city and village maps
- User-friendly layout with helpful icons, and organized by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time
- Covers Genoa, Portofino Peninsula, Levanto, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore, La Spezia, Porto Venere and more
The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Pocket Genoa & Cinque Terre, a colourful, easy-to-use, and handy guide that literally fits in your pocket, provides on-the-go assistance for those seeking only the can't-miss experiences to maximise a quick trip experience.
About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. Lonely Planet enables the curious to experience the world fully and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves, near or far from home.
TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 winner in Favourite Travel Guide category
'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times
'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)
*Source: Nielsen BookScan: Australia, UK, USA, 5/2016-4/2017
Regis St Louis
Regis St. Louis creció en una pequeña ciudad del Medio Oeste de EEUU, el tipo de lugar que alimenta grandes sueños de viaje, y desarrolló una temprana fascinación por los dialectos extranjeros y las culturas del mundo. Pasó sus años de formación estudiando ruso y un puñado de lenguas romances, que le fueron de mucha utilidad en sus viajes por gran parte del planeta. Regis ha participado en más de 50 títulos de Lonely Planet cubriendo destinos en seis continentes. Sus viajes le han llevado desde las montañas de Kamchatka, pasando por remotas aldeas isleñas en Melanesia, hasta grandes paisajes urbanos. Cuando no está viajando vive en Nueva Orleans.
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Lonely Planet Pocket Genoa & Cinque Terre - Regis St Louis
Contents
Plan Your Trip
Welcome to Genoa & Cinque Terre
Top Sights
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Shopping
Hiking
For Kids
Tours
Wine-Tasting & Culinary Courses
Four Perfect Days
Need to Know
Genoa & Cinque Terre Regions
Explore Genoa & Cinque Terre
Genoa
Portofino Peninsula to Levanto
Levanto to Monterosso
Monterosso
Sentiero Azzurro – Monterosso to Vernazza
Vernazza
Aquatic Adventures
Sentiero Azzurro – Vernazza to Corniglia
Corniglia
Manarola
Manarola to Corniglia
Riomaggiore
Sentiero Rosso – Alta Via delle Cinque Terre
La Spezia & the Bay of Poets
Survival Guide
Survival Guide
Before You Go
Arriving in Genoa & Cinque Terre
Getting Around
Essential Information
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writer
Welcome to Genoa & Cinque Terre
Italy’s breathtaking Riviera is both a deeply historic destination and a fabulously in-the-moment pleasure-seeking one, where you can explore lavish palazzi (mansions) or humble village churches and then simply swim, eat, walk or gaze at the sea. Expect dramatic coastal topography, beautifully preserved architecture and one of Italy’s most memorable cuisines.
Vernazza | HOHENSEE PHOTOGRAPHY / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre
Top Sights
Musei di Strada Nuova
Genoa’s trio of grand palaces.
TRABANTOS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Palazzo Reale
Genoa’s most impressive palace.
STOCKPHOTOVIDEO / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Portofino
Legendary Riviera town.
ANTON_IVANOV / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Abbazia di San Fruttuoso
Medieval abbey amid breathtaking coastline.
/GETTY IMAGES ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Convento dei Cappuccini
Art-filled church overlooking Monterosso.
TRABANTOS / SHUTTERSTOCK ©;
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Vernazza Harbour
Cinque Terre’s most photogenic waterfront.
WEKWEK / GETTY IMAGES ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Sentiero Azzurro – Monterosso to Vernazza
Amazing walk along the coast.
JULIAN ELLIOTT PHOTOGRAPHY / GETTY IMAGES ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Aquatic Adventures
Boating, kayaking, beaches and islands.
GARGOLAS / GETTY IMAGES ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Sentiero Azzurro – Vernazza to Corniglia
Hike amid stunning scenery.
KARAMYSH / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Porto Venere
Seaside village that captivated poets.
STEFANO EMBER / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Sentiero Rosso – Alta Via delle Cinque Terre
Trek high above Cinque Terre.
POOGIE/SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Genoa & Cinque Terre Top Sights
Tellaro
Charming escape from the crowds.
POLUDZIBER / SHUTTERSTOCK ©
Eating
Surprisingly, given its lack of obvious agricultural land, the Italian Riviera is renowned for its food: fat anchovies, fragrant lemons, olive-oil-rich focaccia bread and a viridian sauce bequeathed to the world called pesto. Farming is carried out on ingeniously terraced cliff faces, and impossibly sited fishing villages have long plundered the sea.
DANITA DELIMONT / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©
Street Food
You can find many versions of focaccia, including the classic (called ‘alla genovese’), a simple oven-baked flatbread topped with salt and olive oil, and focaccia col formaggio, made with a mild creamy cheese. There’s also sardenara, a pizza-like focaccia topped with tomatoes, onions, capers and sardines. Other top street snacks: paper cones filled with small fried fish, calamari, octopus or chips; sandwiches stuffed with ham, cheese or fish; and gelato and granita (a crushed-ice drink that is made with fruit).
Picnic Fare
The food shops are small in Cinque Terre, but with a discerning eye, you can assemble all the essentials for a memorable picnic. Start off at the antipasti counter, where you’ll find cheeses, cured meats, olives, marinated seafood salads and other delicacies. Pick up some fresh fruit, bread and wine, then take it to a lovely spot out of town, in the hills or along the waterfront.
Best Ligurian
Trattoria dal Billy Serves up some of the best cooking in Cinque Terre. (pictured)
Da Eraldo An atmospheric, family-friendly restaurant tucked in Monterosso’s back lanes.
Osteria di Vico Palla Unfussy but mouthwatering home-cooking from a hidden restaurant near Genoa’s harbour.
Trattoria Rosmarino Vibrant, incredibly popular trattoria tucked along one of Genoa’s caruggi (narrow streets).
Best Seafood
Da Aristide Elegant but easygoing gem in Manarola with great seafood.
Trattoria da Oscar A tiny restaurant in Monterosso, with a small menu of outstanding dishes.
Gianni Franzi Have a seafood feast on Vernazza’s lovely harbour front at this long-running classic.
Belforte High-end cuisine served in a medieval tower in Vernazza.
Best Street Food
Il Massimo della Focaccia Grab some focaccia for a seaside stroll in Monterosso.
Il Pescato Cucinato Order a cone of fried seafood and take it to Riomaggiore’s waterfront.
Alberto Gelateria Gelato made from garden-sourced ingredients in Corniglia.
La Pia Centenaria Famed La Spezia spot firing up delicious farinata (chickpea-flour flatbread) for more than 130 years.
Pesto Genovese
It would be criminal to come to Genoa and not try pesto genovese. The city’s famous pasta sauce – a pounded mix of basil, pine nuts, olive oil and sometimes garlic – really does taste, and look, better here than anywhere else, a result of the basil that’s used (the leaves of very young plants are plucked daily from hothouses on city hillsides), as well as techniques honed through generations.
Drinking & Nightlife
Food-centric wine bars, terrace cafes with sweeping coastal views and small candlelit cocktail dens are among the draws of the drinking scene on the Italian Riviera. While nightlife is fairly limited in Cinque Terre, Genoa has a dynamic array of lively brewpubs and party spaces. La Spezia’s historic centre is also sprinkled with wine bars and alfresco cafes.
OMERSUKRUGOKSU / GETTY IMAGES ©
Pre-Dinner Drinks
The Italian Riviera has a lively aperitivo scene. Starting around 5pm, the bars around village squares and pedestrianised parts of Genoa and La Spezia fill with garrulous crowds enjoying a pre-dinner alfresco drink while watching the passing people parade. A refreshing cocktail – like a spritz – is the drink of choice, and it goes down nicely with the complimentary snacks (olives, chips, mini panini, focaccia and the like) that often accompany the drinks.
Wines of Cinque Terre
Steep, terraced vineyards surround many of the villages of Cinque Terre and extend high up into the hinterlands. The wines produced in this challenging terrain were once of average quality, though things have improved remarkably in the last few years, with a new generation of winemakers returning to the land. Cinque Terre is best known for its white wines, with the native Bosco grape typically blended with Albarola and Vermentino.
CAROL BARRINGTON / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©
Best Atmosphere
La Cantina dello Zio Bramante A fun local gathering place in Manarola with occasional live music.
Vertical Bar Buzzing spot for a cocktail in Riomaggiore at any time of day.
Les Rouges Beautifully made cocktails served under a frescoed ceiling inside a grand palazzo.
Malkovich A Genoese original with wildly imaginative libations enjoyed only if you know the password.
Resilience Cafe A vintage-filled classic in La Spezia.
Best Wine Bars
Cantine Matteotti A small jewel box of a wine bar in the heart of Genoa’s historic quarter.
A Piè de Campu Top-quality wines and snacks run by a knowledgeable sommelier in Manarola.
Enoteca Internazionale Get a primer on the DOC wines of Cinque Terre on Monterosso’s main street.
Enoteca da Eliseo It’s all about the wine at this peaceful indoor-outdoor wine bar in Monterosso. (pictured)
Enoteca Il Pirun Old-time charmer in Corniglia where you can drink straight from a wine spout.
Best Drinks with a View
A Pié de Mà Unrivalled spot for a sundowner perched over the wave-kissed shores of Riomaggiore.
La Scuna Take in the views from eagle’s-nest heights at this laid-back drinking spot in Corniglia.
Nessun Dorma An open-air bar with fabulous views over Manarola; go early to avoid the queues.
Bar la Marina The perfect spot for a waterfront aperitivo in picturesque Tellaro.
Top Winemakers
Labels to look for include Prima Terra (produced by renowned winemaker Walter de Battè), Vétua (grown just outside of Vernazza) and Tobiolo (a Manarola vineyard). Unique to Cinque Terre is the celebrated Sciacchetrà, an amber-yellow dessert wine sold in 375mL bottles.
Shopping
Genoa is the best place in the Italian Riviera for a shopping-lover’s holiday. In the Cinque Terre and other small villages, souvenir stands sell much of the same-same, though you can find some unique objects, including locally made ceramics and jewellery, paintings by Ligurian artists, and speciality products (like the dessert wine, Sciacchetrà) rarely available elsewhere.
ANDREA IZZOTTI