La Spezia

La Spezia sits at the head of a deep gulf, but the waterfront in town is a port and a promenade, not a beach. For swimming you head out. On the eastern shore, San Terenzo and Lerici have sheltered strips of sand and pebble, and beyond them the small coves of Fiascherino and Tellaro sit under olive terraces. To the west, Portovenere and the island of Palmaria have rocky swimming spots with very clear water. Up the coast by train, Monterosso has the longest sandy beach in the Cinque Terre, and Levanto has a wider bay.

In high summer the sea reaches about 24°C to 25°C, and swimming is comfortable from June into early October. Most beaches are small, many are pebbly, and a large share of the shore is given over to paid bathing establishments. In August the free stretches fill early. A beach day is easy to arrange from here, but it is an outing rather than the rhythm of the stay.

The cooking here is Ligurian with its own local habits. Farinata, a thin chickpea pancake baked in wood ovens, is the city's everyday snack. Mesciua is a humble soup of beans, chickpeas and spelt, and pesto turns up on trofie and on testaroli from the Lunigiana hills inland. The gulf is known for its mussels, farmed on ropes off Portovenere and served stuffed or in sauce, and anchovies from Monterosso are a short train ride away. Focaccia shops open early, and the covered market on Piazza Cavour is the place for produce and fish.

The wines are the crisp whites of the Cinque Terre and Colli di Luni, along with the sweet Sciacchetrà. Prices and quality in town are steadier than in the Cinque Terre villages. The range is still that of a provincial port, with little fine dining and not much international food.

La Spezia grew in the nineteenth century as Italy's main naval base, and the centre reflects that, with a grid of arcaded streets, Liberty-style facades and long, straight avenues rather than a medieval core. Its best museum is the Museo Amedeo Lia, a private collection of early Italian paintings, miniatures and ivories in a former convent. The naval technical museum by the arsenal gates covers centuries of seafaring, and the Castello San Giorgio above the town houses the strange prehistoric stele statues of the Lunigiana. There is also a modern art museum, CAMeC.

That makes a good day or two of sightseeing, but the city is not a heritage destination in itself. Most of the region's history is out along the coast.

Evenings revolve around the aperitivo. The pedestrian Via del Prione, the streets around Piazza Verdi and the seafront promenade fill with people over spritz and a glass of Vermentino, and in summer the crowd moves to the bars on the waterfront at Lerici and San Terenzo. After that the city winds down early. There are a few late bars and the occasional club night, but nobody comes here to go out, and most visitors are in bed early ahead of a morning on the Cinque Terre trails.

The landscape is the reason most people come. Steep terraced cliffs of vines and olives drop into the sea along the Cinque Terre national park, and its footpaths link the villages. The coastal Sentiero Azzurro is the best known, while the higher ridge path and the sanctuary trails are quieter and give wider views. Closer to town, the island of Palmaria off Portovenere has a loop walk past old forts and sea caves, and the Montemarcello promontory between the gulf and the Magra river mouth is a regional park of pine and holm oak.

Kayaking and diving along the gulf are good, and boats run past the cliffs. About an hour inland, the Apuan Alps rise in jagged marble peaks with serious hiking. Spring and autumn are the best seasons. In summer the heat and the crowds on the coastal paths can be hard work.

Few bases put so much within short reach. The five villages of the Cinque Terre are minutes away by the coastal train, with Riomaggiore and Manarola the closest and Vernazza and Monterosso a little further. Portovenere, with its harbour of tall painted houses and the church of San Pietro on the rocks, is a short bus or boat ride away, and Lerici and Tellaro close the gulf on the other side. Inland, Sarzana has a walled centre and a fortress, and the Roman ruins of Luni lie nearby.

Further afield, Pisa and Lucca are about an hour by train. Carrara's marble quarries are closer still, and Genoa, Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino make an easy day along the Riviera. Florence is just possible in a long day.

La Spezia is a relaxed, safe place with children, and the flat centre and seafront gardens are easy with a pushchair. The best family days are on the water: boat trips round Portovenere and the islands, and the shallow, sheltered beaches at San Terenzo and Lerici. The naval museum's ship models and torpedoes appeal to some children. There is no zoo, aquarium or theme park, though, and the region's main draws are steep villages, packed summer trains and long coastal walks, which suit older children far better than toddlers.

The centre is compact and mostly flat, and the station, the market, the museums and the seafront are all within an easy walk. The town works as a hub. Regional trains run along the coast through the Cinque Terre and on to Levanto and Genoa, and inland lines head towards Sarzana, Pisa and Florence. Local buses go to Portovenere and around the gulf to Lerici, and from spring to autumn ferries link the gulf with the Cinque Terre villages.

A car is more trouble than help. Roads into the villages are narrow and parking there is scarce. The weak point is summer, when the coastal trains fill up and the platforms in the villages get crowded.

Shopping here is the everyday kind found in a provincial Italian city. The pedestrian Via del Prione and Corso Cavour are lined with clothing chains, shoe shops and a few independent boutiques, and the Piazza Cavour market sells produce, fish and household goods. The souvenirs worth taking home are edible: pesto, olive oil, Cinque Terre wine and Sciacchetrà, and anchovies. Carrara marble pieces are sold in the towns nearby. Anyone after fashion or design will find little here.

La Spezia is mid-priced. Everyday eating is fair value, from farinata and focaccia to simple trattorias, and the local trains and buses are inexpensive. Rooms in town cost noticeably less than in the Cinque Terre villages, which is why many visitors stay here. Even so, the area's popularity keeps summer accommodation at an ordinary Western European level, and the national park trail passes, boat trips and seaside bathing establishments add up over a stay. Spring and autumn are clearly easier on the budget.

The Teatro Civico, the city's main stage, hosts a season of prose theatre, touring productions and concerts, and the small historic Teatro degli Impavidi in Sarzana adds a few more. Summer is the liveliest time, with a long-established jazz festival and open-air concerts in piazzas and castle courtyards around the gulf. For most of the year there is little to attend, and opera means a trip to Genoa or Pisa.

There is no spa or bathing tradition in the city itself. Wellness means a hotel spa or the small thermal baths at Equi Terme, in the Lunigiana valley about an hour inland. Where La Spezia does help is pace. Off-season evenings on the seafront, a long lunch in Lerici or Tellaro and the quiet of Palmaria are restful, even if the summer crowds in the Cinque Terre are not.