"Portovenere - Our Favourite Place in all... " a Portovenere Travel Page by timtrina

Upon departing Venice, we headed off to Milan where we had a booking at Hotel Serena. This booking was made 1 year in advance, and as with all other bookings we had made, we had re-confirmed before leaving Australia.

We drove for approximately 4 hours in heavy fog / rain, and finally found our hotel. We pulled up out the front to find scaffolding surrounding the outside of the hotel. Tim suggested I go inside to find out where we could park the car, as Imi was tired in the back seat.

As I went up to the front door, there was a big handwritten sign saying "Chuiso" (Closed). I noticed people inside and knocked on the door - they let me in. There were a few ladies inside with their expensive fur coats on, talking to men who I can only assume now were architects. The entire foyer had been "gutted". I asked if the hotel was closed - they said "Yes" and turned their backs on me. I interuppted them again and said we had a confirmed booking. They just looked at me and turned away.

Furious I went back to the car. Tim asked where we were to park the car - I said to just get the hell out of Milan, and proceeded to tell him what had happened. It was just after New Years, and everywhere was full.

So.....we drove for 3 more hours in the dark, and it was pouring with rain. We called many hotels in many different cities along the way - all fully booked.

We then decided we'd just head up the Cinque Terre until we found somewhere.

Although Portovenere is not one of the towns in the Cinque Terre, it is very close. Only a few minutes from the huge Naval port of La Spezia, we look back now and realise that Milan falling through was a blessing, as we would never have thought to visit this most beautiful little town that has become our favourite place in all of Italy.

We stayed in a lovely hotel "Hotel Belverdere", situated right on the water, with wonderful caring and accommodating staff. Please be sure to check out the Accom tip for more details.

I will be doing a full travelogue on this beautiful old church - very Spanish / Gothic in style. It is situated at the very edge of the coastline, and the walk there through the beautiful historical village of Portovenere is never dull - you feel like you're in REAL ITALY - this is the only place we ever felt like this.

Right next to the Chiesa San Pietro, you can't miss the Castello Doria. Thought to be built around the 1200's, this was a military castle / fortress. The entry fee was only 2,10 Euros each ( ,50 Euros for Imi), and you're able to fully walk around inside the castle at your leisure, as well as walking up on top of the roof, which was quite a scary ordeal for me (Being afraid of heights). Be warned - there are no railings, and if you're trecking up the roof in high winds like we were, it can be quite un-nerving.

There will be a number of travellogues in our Portovenere page, as we took so many beautiful photos, we must do this lovely town justice.

Love to hear comments from you all :) Trina