Porto Venere sits on a rocky headland at the southern entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia, about 12 kilometres from La Spezia by road or 30 minutes by ferry. The village is a single street of tall coloured houses squeezed between the cliff and the sea, with a Genoese castle at the tip of the promontory and the 12th-century church of San Pietro right at the water's edge.
Byron swam from here to visit Shelley at San Terenzo across the gulf — the passage is now called the Grotto of Byron, though his actual connection to it is questionable. The views from the castle terrace over the Palmaria island and the open sea are excellent. Ferries run from La Spezia's Molo Italia several times daily in summer; fewer in winter. The village is popular in peak season; go in the morning to beat the crowds.