Liguria
How to Get Around Liguria
Getting Around
Genoa's airport is the region's main air link. The coastal rail line connecting La Spezia to Genoa is, in practice, the primary way to move between the Cinque Terre villages -- road access to several of them is extremely limited, and a car is often a liability rather than an asset along this stretch of coast.
Elsewhere in the region, a car is more useful for reaching smaller Riviera di Ponente towns and inland valleys not served by rail.
Regional connections
How easily, and at what cost, can you combine the region’s main destinations?
| Route | Best option | One-way time | Travel Smart take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alassio and Finale Ligure | Traininexpensive | ~20–26 min scheduled service | Comfortable as a day trip. Alassio is a workable base for Finale Ligure. |
| Finale Ligure and Finalborgo | Businexpensive | ~5 min by road | Excellent day-trip connection. Finale Ligure works well as a base for Finalborgo. |
| Finale Ligure and Noli | Businexpensive | ~10 min by road | Excellent day-trip connection. Finale Ligure works well as a base for Noli. |
| Finale Ligure and Varigotti | Businexpensive | ~5 min by road | Excellent day-trip connection. Finale Ligure works well as a base for Varigotti. |
| Genoa and Alassio | Traininexpensive | ~1 hr 4 min–1 hr 22 min scheduled service | Better as a separate stay than a day trip. |
| Genoa and Cinque Terre Region | Traininexpensive | ~1 hr 1 min–2 hr 13 min scheduled service | Better as a separate stay than a day trip. |
| Genoa and Finale Ligure | Traininexpensive | ~43–48 min scheduled service | Possible in a day, but it takes most of one. |
| Genoa and La Spezia | Traininexpensive | ~1 hr 1 min–1 hr 34 min scheduled service | Possible in a day, but it takes most of one. |
| Genoa and Portofino | Train and local bus, or carmoderate cost | ~40 min by road | Excellent day-trip connection. Genoa works well as a base for Portofino. |
| La Spezia and Cinque Terre Region | Traininexpensive | ~6–22 min scheduled service | Comfortable as a day trip. La Spezia is a workable base for Cinque Terre Region. |
| La Spezia and Lerici | Businexpensive | ~21–37 min scheduled service | Excellent day-trip connection. La Spezia works well as a base for Lerici. |
| La Spezia and Portovenere | Bus, or boat and businexpensive | ~20 min by road | Excellent day-trip connection. La Spezia works well as a base for Portovenere. |
| Portovenere and Lerici | Bus, or boat and businexpensive | ~35 min by road | Comfortable as a day trip. Portovenere is a workable base for Lerici. |
Cost compares the options for each route rather than quoting a fare: inexpensive means the price is not a factor in planning, moderate cost means a real line in the budget, and the expensive option is one worth weighing against the alternative. Fares change from year to year; the ranking between them does not.