Europe Italy

Antipasto & Cocktails in Portovenere

June 28, 2017

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere at Sunset, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Portovenere

My mum and I just got back from a 4 day trip to Cinque Terre & Pisa in Italy! It was such a lovely little trip together. We’ve never actually taken a trip just the two of us, usually it’s me and Shane or me and Shane with my parents, so it was really nice to have a girls trip together for a change!

We flew into Pisa around lunchtime and planned to visit the Leaning Tower, but it didn’t work out so decided to head to our accomodation instead. We stayed here in La Spezia for anyone interested (it was such a great little B&B and the host was so lovely) as it was a lot cheaper than staying in one of the five towns of Cinque Terre, but still really close and easy to get there.

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere at Sunset, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Portovenere Streets, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Our host told us about the area and the things to see and do and mentioned his favourite town nearby is Portovenere. Though it’s not actually part of the Cinque Terre National Park, it’s so similar in appearence and could fit right in! It’s about a 30 minute bus ride from La Spezia and has the nicest atmosphere (it was one of our favourite places of the trip and we actually ended up going back).

We caught the bus around 6pm and headed over to Portovenere. I was instantly stunned by the amazing colours of the buildings and the start of the sun setting and it got me so excited for our days of exploring Cinque Terre.

Portovenere Streets, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Save

Save

Portovenere Streets, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Save

Save

Portovenere Streets, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Save

We sat by the harbour, admired the views of the Island opposite (Palmaria) and then took a little wander around the backstreets. I love exploring places like this, with their colourful streets, multicoloured houses, and plants growing everywhere. It reminded me so much of Annecy in France, and Alfama in Lisbon. It was like a cross between the two.

With all the wandering and exploring, we decided to find a place to get a drink. We only planned for a coke and sprite, but ended up finding this bar by the water and ordering cocktails. Mum got the Pina Colada and I got the Mai Tai. It was SO good! It was a little on the expensive side at €10 for the Pina Colada, but all of the antipasto was included in the price! And it was the best antipasto we’ve had! The salami and cheese was amazing and we ended up going back there on another evening before the end of our trip!

Antipasto at Bar Doria in Portovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyAntipasto and Cocktails at Bar Doria in Portovenere, Cinque Terre, Liguria, ItalyPortovenere at Sunset, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

The views of the town are so pretty at sunset! I wish we stayed a little longer till the sun went down a little more to get some better shots, but it was still nice to see it just before it set. We absolutely loved the atmosphere here, so if you ever visit Cinque Terre, please visit Portovenere! There is no train station here, but you can get there on the bus from La Spezia or by boat from La Spezia and any of the towns in Cinque Terre.

There’s also a boat trip that you can do around the opposite island of Palmaria, which I wanted to do but we ran out of time for. It looks so nice!

Have you been to Portovenere before?

 

Follow

  • Reply
    Darina
    June 29, 2017 at 7:05 am

    Such beautiful photos! I’ve never been to Portovenere, but I looks fabulous!

    • Reply
      April
      June 29, 2017 at 1:04 pm

      Thanks, Darina! It was so stunning. I hope you get to visit one day!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Jaime @angloyankophile
    June 29, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Absolutely stunning photos! Did you find it quite crowded and busy with tourists? Or was it fairly quiet when you went? I’m dying to go!

    xo Jaime
    Angloyankophile

    • Reply
      April
      June 29, 2017 at 1:09 pm

      It actually wasn’t too bad, I mean we had some trouble finding restaurants at lunch because they were always full, but we weren’t packed like sardines on the streets. I expected it to be a lot busier than it was, but for the end of June it wasn’t actually too bad, though, I’ve heard it gets a lot busier in July/August.
      I hope you get to go, because it was so stunning (and my favourite part of Italy I’ve visited so far).
      xo April

  • Reply
    Lucy
    June 29, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    Gorgeous! I was in the Cinque Terre last month and we did a boat trip to Portovenere for the day, such a pretty place, even in a stretch of coastline that’s wall to wall gorgeousness!

    • Reply
      April
      June 29, 2017 at 10:13 pm

      Yea, it was so nice there! I was quite surprised because we never actually even planned on visiting haha!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Lucy
    June 30, 2017 at 7:37 am

    Wow Portovenere is so beautiful!! I’ve never been to the Cinque Terre, the closest I’ve ever been is Genova (not quiiite the same, but a lovely place nevertheless!) Girls holidays are the best, my Mum and I went to Lake Garda for a few nights and it was sooo much fun. Our trip also included giant cocktails :p and the Italian aperitivo is just the best right?? Some places give you access to an unlimited buffet (!) meaning that you can pay for your whole dinner for the price of just a drink! Although it’s still amazing value just with the antipasto 🙂 xxx
    Lucy @ La Lingua

    • Reply
      April
      June 30, 2017 at 2:34 pm

      Aww, I really want to visit Lake Garda (or Como), so I bet that was such an amazing trip! I can’t even imagine an unlimited buffet with a cocktail! That sounds so amazing! I loved that antipasto though – that salami and cheese were so good!
      xo April

  • Reply
    Rae Abigael
    July 1, 2017 at 6:55 am

    beautiful photos! <3
    and you have a great blog too! so lovely! 🙂

    xoxo, rae
    http://www.raellarina.net/

    • Reply
      April
      July 1, 2017 at 9:29 pm

      Thanks so much, Rae!
      xo April

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: