Liguria with Kids: Six Locations, Lots of Opinions
August 2024
We just got back from Liguria, so it’s time for a write-up on all the things we enjoyed as a family of five (myself, my husband, and kids aged 6, 3, and 8 months), plus logistical tips, and of course a breakdown of the things that just *didn’t work* for us.
Our Itinerary
This was an August holiday. We flew to Pisa, spent one week in Lucca, Tuscany (where Peppe was working), then took a train up to Monterosso. We stayed in Monterosso for two weeks before taking a final train to Genova for one night’s stay in a hotel, and we flew from Genova back to Stansted the following morning.
During our stay in Monterosso, we took the following day trips:
Two day trips to La Spezia
One day trip to Sarzana, stopping at La Spezia in the evening for dinner
One day trip to Vernazza
I’ve broken down my review into ratings and ramblings. You’ll see there’s a rating for gluten-free vegan food, and please make no mistake: I know that gluten-free vegan dietary requirements are a me problem. I don’t expect much when travelling, and include this rating mostly as a rough guideline in case anyone else out there chose to restrict their diet ethically before realising they were hideously intolerant to gluten. I will be a focaccia in my next life.
Without further ado…
Monterosso
Buggy accessibility: 1/10
Walkability with young kids: 3/10
Charm: 7/10
Pottering around little shops etc: 6/10
Kids’ facilities and activities: 5/10
Gluten-free vegan food: 3/10
Monterosso is one of the five Cinque Terre towns, and apparently it’s the most family-friendly of the five. We stayed in an Airbnb with a lovely view of the town with a little bit of a sea view behind. The steps took 3 minutes for an adult to walk down into town, but - as you might imagine - way longer for two small children and one baby carried in a sling. The alternative was a steeply sloping, fairly busy, winding road that we walked up on the first day, and vowed to not return to until we left the town for Genova. We found the accessibility to be pretty poor, buggy-wise, if you’re not staying on the main street! I’d recommend carrying a baby in a sling with two fit parents to take turns, or avoiding the Cinque Terre towns as a holiday destination with a baby.
There was one playground in the old town that our children really enjoyed, but it was quite small. Maybe we’re spoiled coming from London! There’s not much shade - a little depending on the time of day on the benches on the perimeter of the playground. It gets quite busy, as the playground and the beach are the only places for children to go.
There are several free beaches split between Monterosso ‘old town’ and Fegina, the ‘new town’. We tried to visit the one in Fegina, but it smelled of sewage and was rammed with people whenever we went down there, so we avoided it. The free beaches in the old town sandwich the main lido, and are easy to access. The paid beaches had queues backing up before they opened each day - we queued from 8:30am for a 9am opening time in order to secure a spot. This was well worth it, often resulting in having the beach completely to ourselves for the first hour due to its vastness. In high season, in the middle of August, it was 50 euros for four deckchairs and two umbrellas - so really not cheap - but we felt it was worth it for a stress-free day on a beautiful beach with lots of fish! The beaches are made of grey pebbles rather than sand, which is actually quite nice for kids as they’re easier to brush off than miniscule grains of sand, and less itchy, apparently. We enjoyed two beach days, although the second involved several screams of “Meduuuusaaaa!” (jellyfish) coming from the sea, so we got out and didn’t go back in! We could only watch on as a girl a little older than our own came screaming to the shore clutching her leg from a fresh jellyfish sting. Heartbreaking to witness, but this can happen anywhere in coastal Italy.
There are a couple of gelato spots just up from Monterosso’s beaches that we enjoyed more times than we actually made it to the beach.
Food was overpriced for us, as Pizzeria La Smorfia added 4 euros for each gluten-free pizza despite omitting the cheese, but once again I understand that asking for tweaks to traditional foods is a tall order. I suppose my comment on food in Monterosso is that there’s not much on offer for gluten-free vegans. We had beetroot hummus and avocado on gluten-free toast from Mae Caa, and otherwise we ate at home. For those without dietary requirements, there’s plenty of food on offer, although I’d avoid the pizza in general as (1) it isn’t a regional dish, and (2) Peppe says they’re not the best, and I trust his judgement. The area is known for its pesto, so I was hoping to find dairy-free pesto on offer in restaurants, but my search was in vain. There are only two very small mini markets (like small corner shops), with a couple of gluten-free items; Fegina has one mini market too, but with a poor selection of anything gluten-free. If you’re looking for fresh produce, there’s a fruit & veg market every Saturday under the bridge in the old town, but be prepared to stand your ground amongst the nonne and zie!
The nearby Cinque Terre National Park provides accessible trails for mountain buggies, but we didn’t test this out this time around.
La Spezia
Buggy accessibility: 8/10
Walkability with young kids: 8/10
Charm: 6/10
Pottering around little shops etc: 7/10
Kids’ facilities and activities: 5/10
Gluten-free vegan food: 5/10
We went to meet up with friends staying in La Spezia, and we ended up wishing we’d made our base here, instead of in Monterosso! La Spezia feels a lot more ‘liveable’ - a town we could have stayed in for months rather than for a holiday. There are a couple of supermarkets, typical high-street style roads with pedestrianised streets and high-street shops like Flying Tiger and United Colours of Benetton. The Mercato Coperto (covered market) is jam-packed with local produce and artisanal goods - open every weekday - so if you’re self-catering, you’ll be spoiled for choice with good fresh groceries.
There are lots of restaurants and ice cream shops; Peppe and I each found our favourite gelaterie here! He preferred Gelateria Vernazza (a chain that also has a place in Vernazza), which had gluten-free wafers, whereas I preferred Wow Emotional Food (fantastic name). Wow Emotional Food was entirely gluten-free, with lots of dairy-free options. They had cups made of chocolate-coated wafer, and a spoon made of chocolate biscuit! My kids adored these, and I lowkey did too. The whole concoction was vegan and gluten-free, such a treat. We had granite there also.
We ate twice at Pizzeria Masaniello (the sign might read: Fratelli Zaccaro Pizzeria), where I did have to make a meal out of sides - but it was delicious, so I was happy to return. This reminded me of 2015 Serena in Positano - grilled vegetables and potatoes and some beans in sauce. I’m not even mad about it… it’s good plant-based food and full of flavour!
There are plenty of independent stores to browse, and there’s a park with a playground for the kids. The playground is on quite a big patch of ground; the apparatus isn’t super plentiful but there are swings, somewhere to climb, and a zipwire - the rest of the space is just a nice spot for kids to run around at full speed! The surrounding park is a pretty walk, and the park is just at the edge of the town, close enough to shops.
La Spezia has a number of beautiful towns and beach coves nearby: a short 15-20 minute drive or a ferry hop. Lerici and Porto Venere are two places we wish we had visited!
Sarzana
Buggy accessibility: 7/10
Walkability with young kids: 7/10
Charm: 8/10
Pottering around little shops etc: 9/10
Kids’ facilities and activities: 5/10
Gluten-free vegan food: 7/10
We took our day trip to Sarzana having just missed a month-long evening market that looked fantastic! Sarzana National Antiques show takes place every August.
A friend recommended the town for its charm and bohemian feel - two things that'll get me to a place immediately. I could have spent an extra day wandering around Sarzana’s winding streets, full of independent shops with thoughtfully-curated displays - everything from antiques shops to vintage rugs and sustainable fashion. We stopped at Valentina’s gluten-free bakery, where I fan-girled on Valentina and bought one or two of everything that was vegan. The bread rolls made the next few days in less gf-friendly Monterosso much easier.
The ancient Sarzana Fortress is fun to explore, with breathtaking views and ample space for kids to roam, and there are nearby parks like Parco della Memoria, where the kids can play.
If heading to Sarzana on a day trip, I’d recommend going after the midday break, as it was a bit of a ghost town until quite a bit later in the day! A lot of shops didn’t open again until 5:30pm, then everything came alive. This town really did have a beautiful feel to it and I’d love to visit again.
Vernazza
Buggy accessibility: 7/10
Walkability with young kids: 8/10
Charm: 7/10
Pottering around little shops etc: 5/10
Kids’ facilities and activities: 5/10
Gluten-free vegan food: 5/10
As adults with no kids, I hear that visiting all the Cinque Terre towns in one day is doable and more affordable with the purchase of a rail day-pass. The trains connecting the Cinque Terre towns are SO expensive. Nationwide in Italy, trains are extremely affordable, and the system puts our British rail system to shame. However, the Cinque Terre is a tourist hotspot region, with very few year-round residents, so the rail prices are extortionate, (9 euros one-way for a 2-minute journey). While a day-pass might be more affordable, it’s a lot to fit all five Cinque Terre towns into one day if you have kids in tow. I’d give it a go if I had just one baby who could come along in a sling, but toddlers and young children would probably get tired and complain of all the activity. I’d also try walking between some of the towns for the views - not only of the coast, but also of the protected park, vineyards, and citrus groves.
The towns are hikeable, one to the next, but - once again - with small, complaining kids in tow, we just weren’t up for it. Again, I’d attempt this if we just had one baby that we could pop in a sling and carry… but there’s no way my three-year-old was hiking in that heat!
With this in mind, we just visited one of the Cinque Terre towns other than Monterosso (our base in Liguria). We went by (expensive) train, and we found that Vernazza was a lovely spot for lunch, with a truly gorgeous view, but there honestly wasn’t that much to see in the town itself. There was an excellent gelateria - Gelateria Vernazza, the same chain that was in La Spezia - and a cute little harbour with a small patch of pebbled beach where people crammed in to get some sun and splash around. We sat on the harbour for lunch and the kids had a quick play in the water, then we wandered back to the train station, booking our train as we walked. There was a small produce market and a few shops that were selling the same artisan-looking products that we’d now seen in several different towns.
Vernazza has one main road from the train station down to the beach, passing shops and restaurants. It’s fairly steep and quite narrow, and very busy in August. I’d therefore recommend using a sling for babies and not bringing a buggy to this town.
Genova
Buggy accessibility: 7/10 some areas with steps and higher and lower levels
Walkability with young kids: 9/10 some hills but walkable
Charm: 7/10
Pottering around little shops etc: 8/10
Kids’ facilities and activities: N/A, we weren’t there for long enough
Gluten-free vegan food: 8/10
We only had one day & night to explore, and Genova is quite big! There are too many museums to count - see this TripAdvisor list and take your pick - and a historic centre with lots of smaller alleyways leading to it. Those little alleyways are full of street sellers and smaller shops, which are so much fun to explore! We found a great gluten-free gelateria with dairy-free options, GROM, where we bought pistachio cream (like peanut butter but 100 times more exciting) and enjoyed pistachio ice cream. Our whole family loves pistachios, if you couldn’t tell by now. Another café highlight was Rebecca Pasticceria, serving lots of little treats. We tried three small desserts and had a coffee in their back room, and the team was helpful with dietary requirements.
We ate at Exultate pizzeria with outdoor seating, where the gluten-free pizza was only a little more expensive than the regular base, and the staff were very accommodating. The outdoor seating sprawled into a sea of tables and chairs belonging to other restaurants; it was reminiscent of hawker stalls! Kids were running around playing hide and seek while parents enjoyed a glass of wine al fresco.
There’s a playground in the picturesque Porto Antico region, a former port area restored by architect Renzo Piano - who, incidentally, designed the building in London where I met my husband, Peppe. Small world!
We stayed at Best Western Hotel Metropoli, where there were plenty of taxis available within minutes, and very helpful receptionists to arrange it all for us. We hopped in a large cab and we were at Genova’s Cristoforo Colombo airport within 20 minutes, although the cab driver bumped up the price considering the short journey. From there, we flew back to Stansted and started dreaming up our next Italian adventure!
We only spent a short time in most of these Ligurian towns, so do let me know if you’d add any recommendations to this list.
✌🌻💛
