I had wanted to stay on the Ligurian coast for access to either the Cinque Terre or the Italian Riviera but knew nothing about it and certainly not where would be best to stay.
I had already booked my train from Milan to Genoa and would spend a day there before getting another train of roughly an hour long to the coast.
Lavagna was chosen by means of searching 'Liguria' on Expedia with my required dates and Google Maps open to check locations. This was how I found the Hotel Valentino in Lavagna, and booked it for three nights despite not having heard of the town prior to this search.
The train from Genoa Piazza Principe took 1 hour 10 minutes, and my hotel was a 10 minute walk from the station along the lungomare, the Via Aurelia. The trainline runs right along the promenade and I wondered how one could access the beach with the train tracks and fencing between the pavement and the beach.
Upon arrival, I met lovely Loredana (the owner) who immediately declared her love of speaking and hearing English. She then introduced me to an Anglo-Italian couple who were also staying there with another two people who were practising the tango. I instantly felt at home and comfortable in this friendly small hotel by the sea.
My room was ideal for solo travel- comfortable double bed, decent shower, a mini fridge, and a small balcony with chair for what was advertised as a 'partial sea view' but was actually more of a view than I thought!
In order to access the Spiaggia di Lavagna, you have to cross the road then descend the steps of the footwell across from this hotel (there are other access points along the promenade).
Once there, after a refreshing shower and change, I caught the beginning of sundown over the beach with a view that made my eyes widen with how beautiful it was.
Maybe it was the time of year being just before high season (end of May) or maybe it's just the fact Lavagna is not a well-known tourist destination, there was such a sense of tranquillity with few holiday-makers sitting on rocks to watch the sunset, the last swimmers before dark, and people sat chilling quietly with an Aperol Spritz in the beach bars.
I stood for a while taking in the peaceful atmosphere, pale blue skies and light golden sunlight, then walked down towards the harbour. The whole scene was so relaxing, hearing the soft rolling of waves hitting the pebble beach and the occasional bark of a dog running freely along the shoreline. Honestly, I felt so lucky to be in such a place (and to think I had not even heard of it less than a week before arriving).
I was tired from the long day travelling from Milan to Genoa and the day spent there in the city before the train to Lavagna, so I headed back to my hotel to watch the final hour of sunset from my little balcony.
So other than being a town on the coast, what makes Lavagna a particularly pleasant place to stay?
Well, it is not overrun with tourists (I'm aware I am too a tourist!!), it is peaceful, clean, safe, affordable, but above all it is that panoramic bay and the sunset that melts into the sky and the sea. The same landscape in another part of Europe would be majorly built up, overrun and overpriced. Lavagna feels like a little secret just left alone and chilling while crowds head to the more famous towns on the same coast. There is no particular landmark or special thing to see here, it is all about the view and the vibe.
The next day I headed straight to Rapallo and got back to Lavagna late so what follows is from day three:
On Tuesday morning, I got my steps in with a long walk right down the promenade to the harbour and back up again past my hotel towards the last beach bar when it was time for an espresso. I am no coffee connoisseur but to my palate, some can be really bitter and some can be smooth, and this one was just right for a wonderful 1 euro 50.
I don't tend to have much of an appetite in the heat (it was a pleasant 27 degrees, nothing oppressive) so another good thing about this trip was I wasn't constantly in restaurants shelling out for full meals.
In the afternoon, I stopped off at a beach café called Bagni Nina and for about 12 euros had a salad and glass of white wine served practically on the beach with a gorgeous view.
As you can see, the beaches in Liguria are not talcum powder-soft golden or white sands but rather grey pebbles/shingle. There are some stretches of the beach which are rougher than others but here by Bagni Nina the pebbles were much finer so it felt almost like soft sand to walk on. If you can overlook this and maybe keep your sandals on whilst walking on the beach, the sea makes up for it!
I have never been much of a swimmer so it's not really a priority of mine for a beach holiday. I know people whose first question would be, "What's the sea temperature like for swimming?" but I tend to stay on dry land. With that said, I have really beautiful memories of swimming in the sea in Turkey, Cádiz in Spain, and I have been practising a bit at my local pool back home in Liverpool, so once the heat of the afternoon sun had passed, I decided to brave it and go in as there were only about two others a bit further out.
I took the above photo whilst standing in the water before I decided to put my phone in my bag and enter the water properly.
I am cautious because I am not a strong swimmer and was alone there but the sea was calm with gentle waves, and the water was so clear I could see the fish which swam even right up to the shoreline.
As the sun began its dramatic performance again over Lavagna, I surprised myself by staying in the water swimming for around an hour, maybe longer. You know when you just feel invigorated from head to toe, blood pressure low, skin tingling with the sun and sea, the ozone washing a calmness over you... that's what I feel when I recall that hour alone, swimming in the Med.
I went back to my room and showered then called a restaurant called Trattoria U Pescou in Lavagna's little town centre to book a table.
Firstly, I stopped off at one of the beach bars for a negroni sbagliato, the colour of a sunset, to sip while the sun went down.
The negroni was stronger than I am accustomed to so it was just the one then I walked into the town centre for the restaurant, stopping to look at the flowers along the way near the harbour.
I didn't take any pictures at the restaurant but I have to say I didn't see the great service or setting mentioned in many reviews... there were flying ants everywhere and service was very rushed (I don't blame the staff at all, they were rushed off their feet!). My starter was a farinata, a Ligurian specialty which is simply a sort of crepe made of chickpea flour and lightly seasoned with spices- that was my favourite part of the meal. I actually would have been full just from this but also ordered a main of another Ligurian dish, pasta in salsa di noci (walnut sauce). It was an unfamiliar texture for a pasta sauce but the flavour was lovely.
I walked home in the moonlight and slept comfortably until having to take up at 6:45am to catch my train to Milan via a change at Rapallo (about 2 hours 30 all-in-all).
I left Lavagna feeling nostalgic for this little seaside town and who knows, maybe one day I will be back when in Liguria. It makes for a great central base, and offers an oasis of calm and quiet over its beautiful bay.
If you've been to Lavagna, I'd love to know what you thought- leave your comments below!
Laura x
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