Instead of the Cinque Terre: Tellaro, the Fishing Borgo That Byron Loved

The Cinque Terre are magnificent, but in summer they have become a logistical nightmare: capped trails, regional trains as packed as rush-hour metro carriages, restaurants with hour-long waits and Côte d'Azur prices. If you are looking for the same beauty — colourful borghi perched above the sea, crystal-clear water, the scent of basil — without the crowds, travel twenty kilometres further south.

Tellaro is a hamlet of Lerici, in the Gulf of Poets, and appears on Italy's list of most beautiful borghi. But unlike the Cinque Terre villages, there is no train here: you arrive only by car (park at the top, then walk down) or by ferry from Lerici. This simple logistical barrier has shielded the borgo from the mass tourism that has hollowed out other places.

The houses are stacked on top of one another, painted in the typical Ligurian palette — pink, yellow, orange — and descend until they almost touch the water. The church of San Giorgio, built on a rock that juts into the sea, is Tellaro's defining image: a bell tower that seems to grow directly from the cliff, surrounded by waves.

Legend has it that during a stormy night an octopus clung to the church bell and set it ringing, waking the village and saving it from a Saracen pirate attack. True or not, the story lives on in the Festa del Polpo, which every August brings the borgo alive with outdoor tables, music and a menu devoted entirely to the cephalopod.

Swimming at Tellaro means diving from the rocks into clear water, or heading to the hidden coves along the path that leads towards Fiascherino. There are no beach clubs: just rock, sun and sea. In spring and autumn the borgo is almost deserted, and you can wander the alleyways hearing nothing but the sound of waves and shutters in the breeze.

To eat, the handful of trattorias serve hand-made pesto, anchovies from Monterosso, focaccia di Recco and trofie with walnut sauce. Prices are Ligurian — not cheap, but fair and without the tourist surcharge of the Cinque Terre.

From Tellaro you can reach Lerici in five minutes, Portovenere in half an hour by ferry, and the Cinque Terre themselves in an hour if you really want to see them. But after an afternoon here, you probably won't feel the need.