Portovenere Off The Beaten Path Tips by globetrott

the view of Cinque Terre

The view into the coastline of Cinque terre is simply amazing.

On a clear day you may see into quite a distance.

a tiny fortress out in the bay

Out in the bay looking into the direction of Lerici you will see the remains of a small fortress built on a tiny island.

And you may also see plenty of ships anchored out of the port of La Specia - as berths in the port are rare and expensive while waiting for the arrival of goods to be transported

tourist traps in many shops

Portovenere is of course a place frequented by so plenty of buses everyday, that most of the shops will be tourist-orientated and overpriced tourist traps.

walking the small backstreets of Portovenere

Walking the shady and narrow backstreets of Portovenere is not only nice in the hot summer-months.

another fortress high up the rock

another fortress was built about 50 meters above San Pietro and the whole rock
was finally surrounded by high walls.

4 arches facing the Cinque Terre Coast

Outside and on the right of San Pietro you will see these arches that will give you a great view over the coastline of Cinque terre

San Pietro interior

The church interior is rather simple with the plain medieval stones,
but it looks great anyway in my opinion.

The entrance-door of San Pietro

Have a look for the great entrance-door of San Pietro.
The door seems to be made recently, as many small iron sculptures are fixed to the old door.

I think it looks great and fits very well to the ancient church of the 12th century