Cinque Terre Boat Tour from La Spezia: The Complete Guide
Every summer we welcome guests aboard Ghibli who started their morning in La Spezia — it is where many trains, cruises and road trips into this corner of Liguria naturally arrive. The good news is that getting from La Spezia to our mooring in Monterosso is one of the easiest journeys on this coast, and once you know how the trains work, a boat tour fits comfortably into a single day trip.
Getting from La Spezia to Monterosso
From La Spezia Centrale, the regional train reaches Monterosso in about twenty minutes, and in season there are several trains an hour, so you rarely need to plan around a single departure. Monterosso is the last of the five villages on the line coming from La Spezia, which suits us fine — it means you step off the train in the very village where Ghibli is moored. From the station it is a short walk along the water to Molo dei Pescatori, the fishermen's pier where Captain Benedetto has kept his boat for forty years.
Why we depart from Monterosso
Guests sometimes ask why we don't pick up in La Spezia itself. The honest answer is that Ghibli is a working fishing boat, and Monterosso is her home — Benedetto fishes out of this harbour in spring and autumn, and in summer he takes guests out along the same water instead. Departing from inside the Cinque Terre also means your time on the water is spent on the coastline you came to see, not in transit. The villages sit inside a Marine Protected Area where boats keep to a slow, careful pace close to shore, and starting from Monterosso lets us spend that unhurried time where it counts: under Vernazza's harbour, Corniglia's cliffs, Manarola's stacked colours and Riomaggiore's ravine.
Which tour fits a day trip from La Spezia
If you are coming for the day, The Five Villages is the tour we usually suggest: two hours, all five villages seen from the water, a swim and snorkel stop when the sea is calm, private for up to six guests at €400 for the boat. Departures run on the hour through the day, so it slots easily around trains in both directions. With a little more time, Coast & Coves stretches the same coastline into three hours with close to an hour of swimming, from €550. And if you would rather end the day on the water, our shared Sunset Aperitivo leaves at six in the evening — two and a half hours, wine on deck, €100 per guest.
Booking and the trip home
We keep booking simple: no prepayment, and free cancellation up to twenty-four hours before departure, so a change in weather or plans costs you nothing. After the tour you are back at Molo dei Pescatori in the middle of Monterosso, with time for a meal or a swim at the beach before the twenty-minute train carries you back to La Spezia. For the full step-by-step, see our page for guests coming from La Spezia — but truthfully, it is as simple as a train ticket and a short walk to the pier.