La Spezia

The castle overlooks the centre from Poggio hill. The first fortification predates the 13th century; what you see today is largely the work of the Genoese. Walk up along the old walls on Via XXVII Marzo or take the stairways from the centre: from the top you look over the whole gulf and the dockyard.

Inside is the Ubaldo Formentini archaeological museum, twelve rooms on two floors. The highlight is the collection of Lunigiana statue-stelae, prehistoric figures carved in stone, along with Roman finds from the colony of Luni. The museum is closed on Tuesdays and its hours change with the seasons, so check the La Spezia museums website before you climb up.

This is the city’s most important museum and one of the finest in Liguria. It houses the collection donated to the city by Amedeo Lia: Italian and European paintings from the 13th to the 18th century, a renowned collection of illuminated miniatures, sculpture and ancient and medieval objects. The rooms are small and well curated; two hours is enough.

It is at Via del Prione 234, in the heart of the old town, open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays. The Cinque Terre Card gives you reduced entry to the civic museums, so keep it handy if you bought one for the train.

Via del Prione, the “Carugio Drito” (straight alley) in dialect, is the city’s oldest street and the backbone of the pedestrian centre. Despite the name it is anything but straight: it climbs from the sea towards the hill past shops, bookshops, bars and trattorias. Around it are the squares and streets of the 19th-century centre, with many Art Nouveau façades worth looking up at.

This is the best area for an evening drink and the after-dinner stroll, when locals come out on foot. The side lanes towards the castle hide the old osterie and farinata shops.

La Spezia is the Italian Navy’s city, and the Museo Tecnico Navale tells that story up close. It has stood next to the dockyard entrance since 1958 and displays more than 150 ship models, weapons, instruments and memorabilia. The favourite rooms are the one with the figureheads, the large wooden figures that once decorated the bows of sailing ships, and the one devoted to Guglielmo Marconi, who carried out radio experiments here in the gulf.

The museum is run by the Navy and hours and prices can change, so check before you go. It is the right choice for a rainy day and a hit with teenagers.

The Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art opened in 2004. It holds the works of the Premio del Golfo art prize, the Bartolini and Cozzani collections and temporary exhibitions of 20th-century and contemporary art. Entry is free with the Cinque Terre Card, so if you have one for the train it is worth an hour.

The seafront promenade runs along the harbour between palm trees, flower beds and benches, with views over the gulf and the mountains behind the city. It is named after Admiral Costantino Morin and it is where the city meets: the Palio del Golfo rowing race is held here, and this is where the boats leave for Portovenere, Lerici and the Cinque Terre.

The light over the gulf is at its best at sunset. If you stay in the centre, this is the natural after-dinner walk.

At the end of the Passeggiata Morin a white pedestrian bridge, opened in 2013, crosses the channel to the Mirabello marina, with yachts, bars and restaurants. It is named after Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel. A short walk to combine with the promenade, with good views back to the city and the castle.

Behind the promenade lie the public gardens, laid out in their present form in the 1920s: shady avenues, exotic plants, palms and an equestrian statue of Garibaldi. In summer this is the coolest spot in the centre, and you can walk in the shade all the way to the Naval Museum.

La Spezia is squeezed between the sea and the hills, and several monumental stairways link the centre with the upper districts: the Cernaia, the San Giorgio stairway up to the castle and the Lazzaro Spallanzani stairway. Climbing them is the quickest way to the castle and to the viewpoints over the gulf.

Piazza Cavour is the city market square: in the morning you will find fruit, vegetables, fish from the gulf and “muscoli”, the local name for mussels. On the first Sunday of the month (except July and August) the square hosts the Cercantico antiques and collectors’ market.