Private Boat Tours on the Gulf of Poets and the Ligurian Riviera
The stretch of coast between the Gulf of Poets and Portofino is among the most celebrated sailing territory in the Mediterranean — two UNESCO World Heritage coastlines within a single day’s reach of each other, connected by a sequence of cliff villages, natural harbours and protected marine areas that are best understood from the water. Viaggi di Mare offers private boat tours across this entire coast, departing from multiple ports between Versilia and La Spezia, on a fleet that ranges from compact motor boats for six guests to luxury yachts for twelve or more.
Every tour is a fully private charter — with the exception of the shared sailing boat option — meaning your group has exclusive use of the vessel, the crew, and the itinerary for the entire day. No strangers on board, no fixed group schedules, no compromise on the experience.
The Gulf of Poets: Lerici, Portovenere and the UNESCO Archipelago
The Gulf of Poets is the natural starting point for most itineraries. Named for the English Romantic poets who lived and wrote on its shores — Byron, Shelley, D.H. Lawrence — the gulf contains an extraordinary concentration of medieval architecture, natural landscape and protected marine environment within a relatively compact area. A full-day tour covers Lerici with its Castle of San Giorgio, the hidden coastal villages of Fiascherino and Tellaro, the UNESCO-listed islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto, and Portovenere with the 13th-century Church of San Pietro and Byron’s Cave — with multiple swimming stops in sheltered coves and the option to go ashore on Palmaria Island for a traditional Ligurian lunch.
Half-day formats (4 hours, morning or afternoon) cover the same landmarks at a brisker pace, and are ideal for guests with limited time or those who want to combine a morning on the water with an afternoon land experience. Sunset aperitif cruises (3 hours, from 6:00 p.m.) offer the same destinations in the most photogenic light of the day, with an on-board aperitif included.
The Cinque Terre: Five Villages, the Marine Protected Area and Vernazza
The Cinque Terre — Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore — are best seen from the sea. The five fishing villages, built directly onto near-vertical cliff faces above the water and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, present themselves from the boat in a sequence that no land-based viewpoint can match: the full scale of the coastline visible, the colour of the houses vivid against the grey of the rock, the relationship between the architecture and the landscape immediately legible.
Some vessels in the fleet hold the official Cinque Terre Park Authority authorisation to enter the Marine Protected Area, sail inshore under the cliffs and moor at the designated buoys — with the option to land in Vernazza via the authorised taxi boat for approximately one hour ashore. Other vessels offer the panoramic open-water view of all five villages from the flybridge or deck. Both perspectives are genuine and worthwhile; the difference is proximity and shore access. The tour listings indicate which boats carry the authorisation.
Portofino: The Riviera at Its Most Iconic
The most ambitious itinerary in the programme extends the route northwest beyond the Cinque Terre to Portofino — the village synonymous with Mediterranean elegance, its celebrated harbour enclosed by coloured houses and pine-covered hills, its piazzetta one of the most recognisable scenes in Italian travel. Reaching Portofino by private boat, through the narrow entrance of the harbour, is the arrival the village was designed for. Full-day Portofino tours (8 hours) are available on multiple vessels, covering Portovenere and the Cinque Terre coast along the way.
Unique Experiences on the Water
Beyond the standard itineraries, the programme includes a series of on-board experiences that combine the boat tour with a specific culinary or sensory theme:
- Oysters and mussels tasting on the Gulf of Poets — a full day on the water with a direct visit to the mussel farmers’ farms in the gulf, tasting the day’s harvest at source
- Pesto experience on the Gulf of Poets — sailing and pesto-making combined, learning to prepare the Ligurian sauce on board with a marble mortar and pestle
- Romantic dinner cruise — exclusively for 2 guests, a 4-hour private evening on the water with a sunset swim, on-board aperitif and a 3-course fresh fish dinner served moored in front of Portovenere
- Capraia Island — a full-day tour to the third-largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago, 10 hours on the water to a destination most visitors to this coast never reach
Departure Ports and Fleet Options
Tours depart from multiple ports depending on the vessel chosen, giving guests based anywhere between Versilia and La Spezia the option to board close to where they are staying:
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- La Spezia – Porto Mirabello — main departure point for the majority of the fleet
- Le Grazie di Portovenere — departure for the Goletta Kimera, already inside the Gulf of Poets at boarding
- Lerici and Portovenere — flexible departure options for the Nimbus W9
- Viareggio — departure for the Mochi Craft 46 Fly, the only full-day tour boarding directly in Versilia
- Bocca di Magra / Fiumaretta — departure for tours on the Rizzardi 50 and Capelli Tempest, at the border between Tuscany and Liguria
- Chiavari — departure for Portofino tours on the Pershing 65 and Abacus Marine 62, from the northern Ligurian Riviera
The fleet covers group sizes from 2 guests (romantic dinner cruise) to 23 guests (Goletta Kimera), with vessels in every range. Use the search and filter tools above to find the tour that matches your group size, departure port, destination and available time.
