Day 5: Visit Lerici in the Gulf of Poets and Pisa in one day
We get up at 7 in the morning in our La Spezia hotel, La Spezia Inn, and after 8 and after leaving our luggage at the hotel, we went to breakfast at the bar from which we were given a voucher, in Garibaldi square. Today we have a most complete day, since we want visit Lerici in the Gulf of Poets before leaving for Pisa, from where we have our flight to Girona at 20.55 in the afternoon.
The planning of the day is go now in the morning to visit Lerici in the Gulf of Poets and at noon go back to the La Spezia hotel, to go to Pisa, where we were 6 years ago, but we would be excited to return to the Tower of Pisa, so why not do it today?
And with these after a good breakfast we go to the La Spezia Train Station, from where, just ahead, the Buses from La Spezia to Lerici With a frequency it is every 15 minutes or so.
At the station stop there are no schedules for this route from La Spezia to LericiSo we go to the Tourist Office and they tell us that the stop is not what we thought, say not one that is right on the street parallel to the entrance of the station, going down the stairs to the left.
Schedule of buses from La Spezia to Lerici
It also confirms that we have to take the bus with the letter S or L.
The girl tells us that we can buy the tickets in the same office and to avoid that we happen yesterday with the messages on the Italian bus, we bought the round trip tickets for 2.5 euros the journey.
And so at 9.45 in the morning we take our bus from La Spezia to Lerici that will leave us in this beautiful town in about 30 minutes.
We arrived to Lerici in the Gulf of Poets and as soon as we set foot we see that this bohemian atmosphere of this area of Italy is maintained.
Views of Lerici in the Gulf of Poets
As it has happened in the rest of this trip to Cinque Terre there are practically no essential visits in the villages and the best way to get to know them is to lose ourselves in its streets, hoping that the most incredible corners will meet us.
Lerici Square
Corners of Lerici
On this walk we reach the Castilllo de Lerici, from where we have some breathtaking views of the Gulf of Poets with Portovenere, where we were yesterday, in the background.
Views of Lerici as we climb towards the Castle
Views of the Gulf of Poets and Portovenere in the background
It's almost 11.30 in the morning and the heat starts to squeeze, so we start down towards the center of Lerici in the Gulf of Poets, losing us again through some streets that seem taken from a painting.
Streets of Lerici in the Gulf of Poets
Lerici
In the most central area of the town, we make a short stop to have a drink and refresh ourselves. What we have noticed is that sitting in the most central area has its price and costs us 6.50 euros for beer and coke. More expensive than in any of the Cinque Terre villages where we have been these days.
Colors in the center of Lerici
Shortly before 12 in the morning and seeing that the weather starts to get over us, we return to the streets of Lerici, this time to take a walk along its promenade enjoying the fresh air.
On the promenade of Lerici in the Gulf of Poets
At 12.30 in the morning we return to the Lerici bus stop at Garibaldi Square and we take the bus back to the Spezia where the first thing we do is go to pick up the bags to the hotel to go to eat before taking the train from La Spezia to Pisa.
- Book the best excursion to Cinque Terre from Florence here
We stopped at the Gira del Pomo pizzeria, which is highly recommended on the Tripadvisor and has fairly adjusted prices.
We ordered the menu of the day for 13 euros and we got purple. Di farro salad, salmon penis, stuffed squid ...
Eating in La Spezia
Although the truth is that the price is somewhat expensive for the quantities and the environment makes us think that tourists charge us more than the locals 😉
After a quick coffee we check the train schedules to Pisa and see that at 14.14 we have a train from La Spezia to Pisa which will take us to the Central Station in 1.15h or so.
So we have only to pay and take a run to the station where we arrived with just the right time to ride the train.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Cinque Terre
- 10 essential places to see in Cinque Terre
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Cinque Terre
- How to get to Cinque Terre from Florence
Here we will make a subsection and it is to remember that you always have to validate the train tickets on the machines that are in the stations or on the tracks. If you do not do it and the reviewer passes, you will have a fine of 40 euros per person.
To us for being late and forgetting to validate this journey, the reviewer charges us 5 euros as a fine for being "Spanish", reminding us that it makes us a discount.
We arrived in Pisa at 15.30 in the afternoon and the first thing we do is go find the lockers to leave your bags. We pay 4 euros per bag for a period of 4 hours.
And once saved we go straight to the Tower of Pisa, which is 1.8 km from the Central Station.
While we are walking the streets, memories come back to us 6 years ago, when we came making a trip to Florence and Pisa. Although we do not remember exactly the streets, there are corners or places that we keep in our memory intact, such as the river area.
Newcomers to Pisa
And as it happened last time, suddenly, there it is, in front of us.
The Tower of Pisa in the background, hovering between the buildings
As soon as we arrive, we begin to see that the tranquility we have had these days ago in Cinque Terre has ended, so we try to make a place among the people who make the Typical photos holding the leaning tower, looking for that perspective that we still have in our memory of 6 years ago.
Pisa Tower
And when it's 5 in the afternoon a message sounds on the phone. I can not believe it. The message is from Ryanair and says that our flight today at 20.55 in the afternoon is canceled.
In the face of not believing it, the first thing we do is find a bar with Wi-Fi and check the email, confirming that the cancellation that you have sent us by message is correct.
We watch the news and see that by the strike of air traffic controllers in France several more flights have been canceled.
We made several alternative plannings in a few minutes and decided to take some more photos of the Tower of Pisa and go to the airport to see what we can solve.
Now we do not fix anything to run, so we try to take things easy, within what is a cancellation.
Posing in the Tower of Pisa after we have canceled the return flight
After this little tribute in the Tower of Pisa and with a bad taste in the mouth, we return to the station, we take the PisaMover bus, which takes you from the station to the airport for 2 euros per person and after queuing at the airport ticket booth, they give us the option of flying within two days, that is, on June 26 or flying to Rome early in the morning and at night to Girona.
We value the options and we stay with the first one, since the second one does not offer us any security, since they can also cancel the flight from Rome (as we learned after it happened), although we reject the night of free shelter, since they tell us that apart from covering only one night, although we are forced to stay two, the hostel they give us, will not be confirmed until at least 9 pm and now it is 6 pm ...
We do not want to lengthen, so we take the bus again, we collect our bags at the station and reserve a room at the Hotel Milano, next to the station where we take advantage of the internet connection to find alternative plannings for these two extra days that we have given.
As a curiosity we have to say, that without knowing it, we have gone to book a room right in front of the hotel we went to 6 years ago.
Even without knowing what we will do these next two days we go out to dinner after 9 p.m. at the Pizzeria da Filippo, next to the station, a place with very good comments and that we can confirm that they are all true.
We ordered a couple of pizzas and water for 23 euros.
Dining pizza in Pisa
And even without knowing where we will go the next two days we return to the hotel to rest after an afternoon more than complete and stressful.
Tomorrow will be another day, while it's time to dream about Italy, where we will continue two more days ...
After 6 years, we return to Pisa
Day 6Pisa - Florence
