Sestri Levante, Italy

A Town Split By Two Bays

Sestri Levante is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in Liguria. It sits on a promontory about 40 km southeast of Genoa, roughly halfway between Genoa and La Spezia. The population is 18,512 according to Wikidata, so this is a working town with a life beyond tourism, not a village that empties out of season.

The commune covers 33.62 square kilometres, larger than Portofino and Camogli combined several times over. The geography is the striking part. The town spreads across two bays on either side of a peninsula: Baia delle Favole, the Bay of the Fables, on one side and Baia del Silenzio, the Bay of Silence, on the other.

The oldest quarter sits on the peninsula itself, so a short walk takes you from one shoreline to the other. That dual-bay layout is what sets Sestri Levante apart from every other stop on this stretch of coast, and it shapes how you spend a day here.

From Roman Outpost To Genoese Protection

The town has a long and contested history. In Roman times it was known as Segesta Tigullorum, or Segesta Tigulliorum, a settlement of the Tigulli people. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was nearly abandoned, and it reappears in the record only in a 909 certificate of Berengar I of Italy.

The middle ages brought conflict. In 1133 the Fieschi family of Lavagna attacked the Tigullio gulf but were repelled by the Republic of Genoa, after which Sestri Levante came under Genoese military protection. In 1145 the Genoese acquired the abbey of San Colombano and later transformed it into a castle.

The defences were tested again in 1170, when the town withstood an attack by a Pisan naval flotilla. Dante even names the place, calling it Siestri in Canto 19 of the Divine Comedy, proof that it mattered long before the tourists arrived.

Baia Delle Favole

Baia delle Favole, the Bay of the Fables, is the larger and more open of the two bays, and it carries a literary name. It honours the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, who lived in Sestri Levante for a short time in 1833. The connection did not end with his visit.

The town awards the Andersen Prize, a literary competition for children and young people, each spring, which keeps the link alive in a practical way. For a visitor, the bay is the front door to town: it faces the newer part of Sestri Levante and gives you the long, straight seafront walk that the tighter Bay of Silence cannot offer. It is the side of town where you feel the open Mediterranean rather than a sheltered pocket of water.

If you arrive by train and head for the water, this is usually the first bay you reach, and the peninsula with its old streets is just around the headland.

Baia Del Silenzio

Baia del Silenzio, the Bay of Silence, is the smaller bay on the other side of the peninsula, and most visitors rate it the finer of the two. The old town sits on the peninsula between the two bays, so the shortest route between the long Favole seafront and this quiet cove is a walk across the neck of the headland. The bay is sheltered, the water is calmer, and the buildings of the historic quarter step down towards the beach.

It is also a stage for local tradition. The Barcarolata, a parade of decorated boats, is held here on the last Sunday of August, and it fills the bay with colour and crowds. If your visit falls on an ordinary day, the same water is used for swimming, and the small beach makes an easy place to stop for an hour.

Come in the morning if you want the bay at its quietest.

Bagnun And The Town's Working Side

Sestri Levante has never been only a resort. Its signature dish is bagnun, a soup of fresh anchovies, onion and basil. It began as a sailors' dish, cooked aboard boats and on the quay, and it is now eaten year-round in town.

The Sagra del Bagnun food fair runs the second-to-last weekend of July in Riva Ponente, and it is the best single occasion to taste the dish at its source. The working side of the town extends to heavy industry too. The Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso shipyard, in an outlying part of the commune, was founded in 1897 by Erasmo Piaggio.

It later became Cantieri del Tirreno, merged into Italcantieri in 1973 and into Fincantieri in 1984, so shipbuilding has run alongside tourism for well over a century. Culture gets its own slot as well: the Riviera International Film Festival runs from late April to early May.

By Train, The Closest Of The Four

Sestri Levante sits on the Genoa-Pisa railway, the same double-track, fully electrified trunk line that carries the Cinque Terre trains between Levanto and La Spezia. The Cinque Terre stations, the Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino station and Camogli all lie along this same coastal mainline, with Sestri Levante further along towards Genoa. Of the four Riviera towns covered on this site, Sestri Levante is geographically the closest to the Cinque Terre, closer than Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli.

Two practical warnings apply. First, not every regional train calls at every station, so confirm the stop before boarding. Second, no fare or journey time from the Cinque Terre to Sestri Levante is published in this guide, because the route falls outside the band tables we use elsewhere.

Trenitalia's own fare finder is the source for the current timetable and price for your date.

The Boat Tour, Honestly

Unlike the boat tours to Portofino, Camogli and San Fruttuoso, which depart from Genoa, the one bookable boat trip in this pack for Sestri Levante leaves from the town itself. Sestri Levante: Boat Tour with Aperitif and Snorkeling is run by SESTRI SEA SERVICE SRLS and lasts 4 hours, cruising along the coast with a snorkeling stop and an aperitif on board. Here is the catch, stated plainly. The listed price does not include a fuel levy.

The levy is charged per person and is paid directly to the skipper, on top of the ticket price. Budget for it before you book, because it changes the real cost of the outing. Cancellation is allowed up to 24 hours before the start time, the tour runs weather-permitting, and towels, water, the aperitif and snorkeling gear are included.

For more options across the coast, see our Cinque Terre boat tours hub.

Three Routings Compared

How long you need depends on whether the bays or the boat are the point of the trip. A fast visit can cover one bay and the peninsula old town in a couple of hours, enough to see why the town is famous for its two shorelines. A half day lets you walk both bays, cross the peninsula twice and stop for bagnun or a swim in the Bay of Silence.

A full day is the right frame if you add the four-hour boat tour, which eats most of the middle of the day and still leaves time on shore. Because the town is on the same rail line as the Cinque Terre, all three routings work as a day trip, but check return train times before committing to the boat option.