La Spezia: what to see, what to do, where to sleep

The city of La Spezia is the largest and most populous town in the extreme Levante of Liguria. At the same time, it is undoubtedly a city with fewer attractions than the surrounding villages, those of the magnificent Gulf of Poets.

In most cases, in fact, it is only touched by the large tourist flows attracted by the most illustrious names of the Cinque Terre, Lerici or Porto Venere.

Visiting La Spezia, however, can be a pleasant surprise for the interesting museums, the lively life of the city center and the panorama, with the wide opening on the gulf and with the Apuan Alps in the background.

Staying a few days in La Spezia, moving during the day to explore the surroundings, can be an excellent idea.

Those who want to admire the beauties of this stretch of Liguria, while keeping a low budget, will be able to do so thanks to the cheap hotels and apartments in the city.

Indice nascondi

1 What to see in La Spezia

1.1 Thaon di Revel bridge

1.2 Seafront

1.3 Public Gardens of La Spezia and the monument to Garibaldi

1.4 Naval Technical Museum

1.5 Via del Prione and Corso Cavour

1.6 San Giorgio Castle

1.7 CAMeC - Center of Modern and Contemporary Art

1.8 Amedeo Lia Civic Museum

1.9 La Spezia stairways

2 Beaches of La Spezia

3 Where sleeping in La Spezia

4 How to get to La Spezia

5 What to see in the Province of La Spezia

7 Photographs of La Spezia

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What to see in La Spezia

To discover the best of La Spezia, a day and some good advice on what to visit will be enough.

Thaon di Revel bridge

The Thaon di Revel bridge is the 150 meter long pedestrian bridge built inside the port of La Spezia in July 2013.

This beautiful architectural work that connects the Morin promenade to the Mirabella marina is built in steel, concrete and wood. It has fine finishes and represents a modern La Spezia.

In addition to the structure itself, the bridge is also worth a visit for the beautiful view over the area of the port of la spezia.

Seafront

To return to the city center from the Thaon di Revel bridge, take the beautiful promenade of la spezia.

Taking a stroll along the Costantino Morin promenade is certainly pleasant. In fact, today it is a meeting place appreciated by citizens and tourists.

You can stroll along the beautiful row of lush palm trees, relax on a bench and maybe peek among the luxurious yachts moored in the harbor.

Public Gardens of La Spezia and the monument to Garibaldi

Proceeding towards the historic center from the seafront, the public gardens of la spezia are definitely worth a short visit.

This beautiful green area in the center of La Spezia testifies to the great biodiversity that distinguishes all the cities of Liguria.

Inside this park built in the nineteenth century stands the monument to Garibaldi: this equestrian statue represents the great leader who stayed in la spezia on more than one occasion.

Naval Technical Museum

La Spezia has the largest Naval Museum in Italy, which has very ancient origins.

The original nucleus of the museum, in fact, dates back to the end of the 18th century. The museum you can admire today was inaugurated in 1958.

The entrance is right next to the door of the La Spezia arsenal.

The museum is organized in 6 sections:

Origins: the close bond that unites La Spezia to the Marina;
Workers: The relics resulting from the work of the artisans of the Arsenale;
Figureheads: the wooden figures that were placed on the prow of ships to ward off bad luck or to flaunt power and wealth;
Men, feats, heroes: the expeditions to the North Pole and the Hero of the Red Tent
Technique and excellence: the development of naval architecture from prehistoric times to today;
Marconi: the most important collection in the world of original Marconi equipment (inaugurated in 2017)

Along this really interesting exhibition you will be able to discover the technological advancement of the means and tools that over the centuries have allowed explorations across the seas around the world.

You will find historical documents, artifacts, relics of the marinas prior to the unification of Italy on display.

And also vessels dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, authentic figureheads, ancient weapons and ancient tools for diving.

Via del Prione and Corso Cavour

Via del prione and corso Cavour are the busiest and liveliest streets in the center of la spezia.
Here you will find many shops where you can shop in peace, well-frequented bars and cafes and the oldest noble palaces in La Spezia with typical Ligurian architecture.

San Giorgio Castle

On top of the “Poggio”, a small hill behind La Spezia stands the castle of San Giorgio, an ancient defensive fortress.

This thirteenth-century castle was rebuilt in 1371 and enlarged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

During your visit, in addition to admiring this imposing structure, you can visit the civic museum of la spezia founded in 1873, today the Formentini Civic Museum. It was moved inside the castle after the 1998 restoration.

The Castle is also home to cultural events and shows, especially in the summer.

The terrace offers an exceptional panorama over the gulf, the city and the port.

CAMeC - Center of Modern and Contemporary Art

The CAMeC, modern and contemporary art center, is housed in a modern building from the early 1900s in the historic center, in Piazza Cesare Battisti.

This space was created with the aim of conserving, promoting and exhibiting in rotation the plastic and pictorial art collections from the various editions of the National Painting Prize of the Gulf.

Here, exhibitions and temporary exhibitions are organized in rotation, offering the public the opportunity to approach new languages of multimedia art (design, video, computer, cinema) and performance (dance, theater and speech arts).

Amedeo Lia Civic Museum

The radical restoration of the Convent of the Paolotti, dating back to 1600, gave a worthy setting to the exceptional art collection donated by the collector to Amedeo Lia to the municipality of La Spezia.

It is considered one of the most important private collections in Europe for paintings between 1200 and 1400.

During your visit, you can move between 13 exhibition rooms on two levels.

Here you can admire paintings by famous artists such as Titian, Tintoretto and Canaletto.

But also liturgical objects, medieval ivories and furnishings.

La Spezia stairways

Around La Spezia there are panoramic points from which to admire the city that are also worth a visit to appreciate their liberty style architecture.

These are the famous stairways that connect the upper parts of the city to the waterfront:

The Cernaia Staircase;
The Scalinata San Giorgio;
The Lazzaro Spallanzani staircase.

Beaches of La Spezia

La Spezia is not the ideal city for a seaside holiday. The surroundings, however, are full of beaches, some of which are among the best beaches in Liguria .

A few kilometers away from the capital, in fact, you will find wonderful beaches where you can spend relaxing days under the banner of tanning.

You can go to discover the beaches of Lerici , Portovenere , or go as far as Riomaggiore , the first of the Cinque Terre coming from the Levante.

Where sleeping in La Spezia

Often travelers who stay in La Spezia are just passing through.

Many in fact are then directed to the discovery of the Cinque Terre and the other wonderful places of the Levante Ligure .

This type of traveler is often looking for cheaper solutions. For this reason La Spezia is a city full of hotels and apartments for everyone.

In any case, sleeping in La Spezia is much cheaper than staying in the surrounding tourist destinations.

Exploring the Ligurian Levante from La Spezia, moving within a day, could be very practical using the trains and boats that connect the capital to the most beautiful places on the Riviera di Levante.

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How to get to La Spezia

Reaching La Spezia is very simple.

La Spezia is easily accessible by car because it is connected by 2 motorways. The A12 Genoa-Livorno and the A15 which connects La Spezia to Parma and the main cities of northern Italy.

The train is just as convenient because the city is located on the railway line that crosses the whole of Liguria. From La Spezia station, as well as easily reaching all the tourist destinations in the surrounding area, you can take advantage of the direct trains to the major Italian cities.

From the port of La Spezia you can leave and arrive from the most beautiful places in the Ligurian Levant: the Cinque Terre, Levanto, Lerici, Portovenere, Tellaro and even Genoa .

Boat trips are recommended during the summer, when they are more frequent and the sea is calmer.

What to see in the Province of La Spezia

Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre represent one of the most beautiful, unique and incredible areas of the whole Mediterranean. This stretch of coast of Liguria, about 10 km long between Genoa and La Spezia, is so called because here there are five wonderful seaside villages immersed in unspoiled nature.