Evening in La Spezia

Leaving Monterosso, the SP370 climbs past terraced vines to roughly 300 meters, rides the ridge to Passo del Termine, then drops to La Spezia via the SP530: about 32 km in 45 minutes. Down on the Gulf of Poets, the amphitheater of water stretches between Portovenere and Lerici; Viale Italia’s liberty façades turn coral as the sun slips behind Palmaria. Come for just-fried seafood cones, sweet scampi on Via Prione, and a chilled glass of Vermentino while ferries nose into Molo Italia.

Collected at your Cinque Terre hotel, you keep the car at disposal as the driver waits between stops, stashes your purchases, and fine-tunes timing to the sunset and the kitchen. First a bay spin at golden hour, then a booked table, and finally a slow stroll on Passeggiata Morin: you taste, he drives. With a private chauffeur in La Spezia, you skip ZTL and full parking lots and tap into local haunts—from the fish market on Piazza Cavour to late-night gelato on Corso Cavour—without watching the clock.