Conversation came to a low hush as Mishka pushed her way through the crowd. I watched her sashay down to the edge of the sea before turning back, impatient. It’s not unusual for Italians to take a sunset walk before dinner – that orange sky is why I had settled myself in prime position on a tiny rocky harbour. But Mishka is a tabby cat.
Every evening, Mishka takes a walk with her owners to watch the sunset. She lives in a pastel-hued stone house on the edge of Tellaro, a village in the commune of Lerici with a population of just 1,200. The stroll takes Mishka through the small cluster of tables outside Bar La Marina, where friends and locals stop to say hello.
Tellaro isn’t far from Italy’s most famous collection of towns, the Cinque Terre, where 2.4 million tourists descend each year. Even in shoulder season the towns can feel a lot like Disneyland version of Italy, so it’s not surprising that holidaymakers are considering alternatives. I hadn’t expected to find one just an hour away.
The reasons that the Cinque Terre is so beloved – the colourful houses squished right up next to one another, those nippy little passageways and stone steps – are right here in the towns of Lerici, only without the crowds.
Down by the sea in Tellaro
(Getty Images)
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With its tiny harbour hidden down steps around the back of its main square, Tellaro could easily rival the Instagram-famous town of Vernazza (the #Vernazza hashtag has over half a million tags on Instagram; Tellaro a more humble 71,000). There’s no national park status or special train fare for this part of Liguria – there isn’t even a train station.
That lack of railway line has kept Lerici and its surrounding villages relatively off the radar, although one big plus point in Lerici’s favour is that you can drive around. In the Cinque Terre, trains or walking boots are your only options.
If you’d still rather go car-free, Italy’s public transport system is your friend. Lerici is an easy 40-minute bus ride from La Spezia. The onward bus to Tellaro is little more than a wobbly minivan, but the cliffside views more than make up for it.
Based on location and looks alone, Lerici – the area’s gateway town – could easily be compared to Monterosso, the largest of the five coastal settlements that make up the Cinque Terre. It’s an abundance of…
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