Getting around Portovenere & The Cinque Terre

This is a walking town and cars are not allowed to enter the historic downtown centre part of Portovenere. Cars must be parked on the street which is divided into 3 zones: P1, P2 and P3. All our apartments are in the P3 street parking area on Via Garibaldi. There is also the Golfo parking lot (also referred to as Il Cavo) at the entrance to the town. You can also park in Le Grazie, the town just before arriving to Portovenere and take a bus to Portovenere. This site explains in English the parking details. www.porto-venere.com/en/transport-and-parking

Between November 16 and February 28, street parking in P3 costs 1.50 euro per hour; for the rest of the year, including peak season, it costs 2 euros per hour. Parking is charged between 8am and 7pm.

• Daily rate: 20 Euro in P3; Golfo 10 Euro; Le Grazie 5 Euro
• Weekend rate: 40 Euro in P3; Golfo 20 Euro; Le Grazie 10 Euro
• Weekly rate: 100 Euro in P3; Golfo 60 Euro; Le Grazie 30 Euro

Among all kinds of transportation, getting to Portovenere by bus is the least expensive option, cost of a single ticket is only 3 euro (ticket code is 03), you have to purchase it in a tobacco shop (Tabaccheria) or in a special ticket booth, because it will cost twice as much if you buy it from the bus driver. Warning – it is a curvy road and if you get motion sick, take a taxi. Travel time: 30 min maximum.

Schedule of bus number 11/P:

• Working days: from 5.00am till 11.30pm every 10-30 minutes.
• Weekend and holidays: from 7.00am till 11.30pm every 10-30 minutes (after 08.00pm once an hour).
• On December 25, 26; January 1: from 8.00am till 11.59am and from 03.00pm till 08.00pm every 15-30 minutes.

Bus stop: You need to walk 5-10 mins from the railway station to the bus stop as the bus does not go directly into the railway Station (follow the green line in the map to Corso Cavour)

There is a Portovenere city bus, the GiroBus, that continuously drives around the town from every 15 mins and runs April and May on weekends then June 11 to September 18 every day. 

You can only purchase tickets on the bus in cash and the fare is 2 euros for 2 trips. Once you buy the ticket you will need to validate it in the small orange machines on the bus. One the second trip the conductor will rip the ticket so no need to do a second validation. There are bus stops all around the town, just wave the bus over when you see the GiroBus coming. You will need to ring the bell by pushing the button on the bus poles to have the bus stop for you.There are bus stops just a few steps away from our apartments. When you are returning to the apartment,  ring the bell just before curve to our buildings to notify the driver to stop.

Visit the 5 villages etched into the cliffs of the Ligurian coast. You can hike the Sentiero Azzurro trail that links the villages and offers amazing sea views or take the ferry from Portovenere. You can buy ferry tickets directly at the ticket booth at the beginning of Via del Olivo, just after the Grand Hotel curve. There are also options to reserve on line. 

The Ferry can only stop at four of the 5 towns: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza and Monterosso as Corniglia does not have water access. To visit Corniglia take the ferry to one of the other towns and take the train.

Ferry Prices for 2026: 43.50 Euro for an adult daily multi-stop round trip ticket, 16 Euro for children 6 to 11 yrs. 5 yrs old and under is free. Here is the online schedule.

The town has a ferry from Portovenere to Palmaria Island that is run by the Cooperativa Barcaioli Portovenere. There is a wooden ticket booth at the pier on the waterfront by all the restaurants. The ferry stops at ‘Terrizzo’, the main starting point for hiking on the island, all year round. The beach area of ‘Punta Secca’, the point closest to channel between Palmaria and Portovenere, is only open in the summer and the ferry runs every 30 minutes from 9:00 to 18:45 through August 31st.