La Spezia SP

La Spezia is Liguria's easternmost province, the point where the region hands over to Tuscany: Massa-Carrara lies to the east, Parma and Emilia-Romagna to the north, Genoa's territory to the west, the Ligurian Sea to the south. There are only 32 municipalities, and in a small space the land shifts from cliffs dropping straight into the water, to the gulf around the provincial capital, to the flat valley of the river Magra heading inland.

All five Cinque Terre villages are here, with Riomaggiore and Monterosso al Mare at either end of the line; the Via dell'Amore, the cliff path above the sea at Riomaggiore, is the most walked stretch of coast in the province. Go further and Lerici sits across the gulf, La Spezia is a working port city rather than a resort, and Sarzana, near the Tuscan border, has an old centre few travellers expect.