We were keen to explore the Italian coastline around Cinque Terre, so we decided to base ourselves in La Spezia for a week in early August. Thankfully the temperatures were a lot lower than the 40ish degrees that other parts of Italy were experiencing at the time, but it was still plenty hot, in the 28-33 degree range. La Spezia itself was a pleasant surprise – a nice city and a perfect hub within easy reach of lots of beautiful towns nearby. We flew into Pisa and easily connected from the airport via the ‘Pisa Link’ metro to the central trains station for a trip that took about an hour.

Throughout the week, we visited the Cinque Terre towns of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiori and the cities of Genoa and Pisa. We also headed out and enjoyed visits to Lerici, Tellaro, Sarzana and Porto Venere.