La Spezia: My Base for Cinque Terre

As I mentioned in my last post, I took a trip to Italy’s western coast this past October with my family, starting in Milan and traveled down to Cinque Terre, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast.

From Milan, we took the nearly 3.5-hour train down to La Spezia, which would serve as our home while we explored Cinque Terre. While not technically part of Cinque Terre, La Spezia is a good base as it has more options for accommodations, restaurants, and retail than the Cinque Terre towns. From there, you can easily take a train or ferry to any of the towns that make up Cinque Terre.

While we didn't spend a whole lot of time exploring La Spezia, we were able to take a stroll along the beautiful promenade, which is lined with palm trees and overlooks the harbor. There are a few restaurants and cafes nearby but unfortunately, we weren't very impressed with the food... a surprisingly recurring theme throughout our time in Italy.

On a walk along the La Spezia promenade

Our hotel, Affittacamere Casa Danè, was adjacent to La Spezia's train station. While the hotel itself was very small and cramped, the rooms were spacious. We chose the hotel primarily because it was centrally-located and reasonably priced compared to the other accommodations in town. A bonus was the friendly and helpful staff. However, the breakfast left a lot to be desired. It was here in La Spezia that we first encountered what is known as an Italian Breakfast: just a coffee and a croissant.

Something I should note is that when I'm on vacation, I rely heavily on breakfast to fuel my 8-12-hour walks/hikes through the cities I visit. I don't eat much of a lunch, perhaps just a coffee and pastry or a sandwich, and only eat a small dinner so breakfast is usually my largest meal of the day. So, we ordered more food during our first breakfast in La Spezia. However, again to our surprise, we found the food to be bland and underwhelming. As such, for the remainder of our trip, we stuck to the Italian Breakfast and just ate more for lunch and dinner.

An Italian Breakfast consisting of a coffee and a croissant

With that said, here are some recommendations for restaurants in La Spezia. Remember to check the current status of these restaurants and their opening hours. Note that some of these restaurants may be temporarily closed during the winter months. Additionally, it's always a good idea to make a reservation, especially for dinner.

• Nana Burger - Hands down one of our favorite places to eat in La Spezia. Yes, it's a burger place. But they use fresh, quality ingredients and the burgers taste amazing. Even the fries were delicious! If we had found this place sooner, we would have probably had all of our meals here.

• Ciao Baby - Cute little cafe near the train station that serves coffee and light bites. Lovely staff but very busy in the mornings so seating fills up fast.

• Osteria Da Bartali - A cozy restaurant that's great for lunch or dinner. They specialize in dishes from the Liguria region, specifically, seafood and pasta.

• Pizzium - La Spezia - While there are a lot of pizza places in La Spezia (this is Italy after all), I prefer Pizzium. They specialize in Neapolitan-style pizza baked in a wood-fired oven. Not only is the pizza good but the menu consists of non-pizza options and the tiramisu is delicious.

• Vicolo Intherno - This is a small yet charming restaurant that specializes in cuisine from the Liguria region like seafood and pasta. They also have nice outdoor seating.

With gratitude,

Amin