44.083° N, 9.898° E
Complete guide
Spiaggia di San Terenzo: beach guide
What the beach is like
San Terenzo beach lies in the frazione of the same name in the comune of Lerici, in the province of La Spezia, on the Gulf of La Spezia, also known as the Golfo dei Poeti. The beach runs along the whole village, and the colours of the houses are reflected in its water. The village, which began as a fishing community, brings together the sea, the wide beach and brightly coloured Ligurian houses. The houses are linked by alleys and stairways, the carugi, and the main square opens onto the sea.
The Lerici municipal plan for the use of state-owned coastal areas describes two bays by the village of San Terenzo: one holds the Marinella beach, the other the main beach. The main beach is about 200 metres long and more than 30 metres wide. A rock barrier attached to the shore, in the central-eastern part, splits it into two cells. In the eastern sector is the Colombo beach, 70 metres long and about ten metres wide, bounded on either side by two groynes.
At the western end of the bay, on a rocky spur, stands the castle of San Terenzo. The cave that opens in the headland below the castle is called the «Tana dei Turchi» (Turks' Den), recalling the raids by Turkish pirates against which the villagers built the fort around 1400. The castle tower is about 10 metres high and stands almost 40 metres above sea level. The castles of San Terenzo and Lerici close off the same bay and today are linked by a walk of about 2 km.
Getting there
The centre of Lerici is 1.4 km as the crow flies south-east of the beach. La Spezia is 6.5 km as the crow flies to the west. The seafront promenade from Lerici runs all the way to San Terenzo and is also suitable for wheelchairs. Along this walk, on the way to Lerici, is Villa Magni, where Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley lived.
Wikivoyage recommends parking outside the town and lists several car parks linked by shuttle bus. Among them is the La Vallata car park, set above the seafront and reached from provincial road 331. The Venere Azzurra and Piazza Ghidoni car park, by contrast, is right on the seafront. Also according to Wikivoyage, in summer tourists may not drive private cars into Lerici, while the town has a bus connection with La Spezia.
When to go
Judging by the orientation of the coast, the beach faces south. With the tramontana, the grecale (north-east wind) and the mistral (maestrale) the wind blows from the land and the sea close to shore stays calmer. With the sirocco (scirocco), the ostro (south wind) and the libeccio (south-west wind) the wind blows from the sea and the beach is exposed to waves. The levante (east wind) and ponente (west wind) hit it side-on. This is an indication based on orientation, not a forecast.
In the summer months residents play «baleta» on the beach, keeping a small, slightly deflated ball in the air in a circle at the water's edge. San Terenzo is one of the seafaring districts that take part every year in the Palio del Golfo, which in 1945 was held right here because of war damage around La Spezia. Before the race, the districts' flags are hung on the castle, on the north side of the main square.
Seabed and sea
The beach is made of fine white sand. In front of the main beach is a detached breakwater parallel to the shore, 280 metres long, built to protect it. A groyne running almost parallel to the shoreline extends the rock barrier that protects the cliff below the castle. These structures shift sediment from the central part of the bay to the western part, sheltered by them, and give the shoreline a parabolic shape.
In the 2025 season the European Environment Agency rated the bathing water quality as excellent. Paolo Mantegazza, who lived in San Terenzo until his death in 1910, wrote that no swim there was «more poetic, fresher, more adamantine».
Facilities and free beach
The beach has a free section and an equipped free section, where the municipality's tourism website lists the rental of deckchairs, sunloungers, umbrellas, pedal boats and canoes. According to the municipal plan, the equipped part is on the castle side, with the equipment placed in fixed positions. The Marinella beach has been removed from the concession and is considered a free beach.
Lerici's equipped free beaches, San Terenzo among them, are held in concession by the municipality, which has entrusted their management to third parties through a public procedure. According to the same document, the beach remains a public beach in every respect, open to anyone within the limits of the bathing ordinance. The operator must make the toilets available to the public, clean the beach every day and provide supervision and rescue in the corresponding stretch of sea. In the eastern sector, the Colombo beach establishment has a fine-sand beach and a sunbathing pier.
Rules and protected areas
In 2026 Lerici appears on the FEE Blue Flag (Bandiera Blu) list with Eco del Mare, Colombo, Lido, Fiascherino, Baia Blu/Marinella and Venere Azzurra. On the equipped free beaches, the municipal plan requires access to the sea to be guaranteed for people with disabilities.
Nearby
The Marinella, 0.2 km away as the crow flies, is a small fine-sand beach below the castle, in a cove framed by Mediterranean scrub. It is about 60 metres long and at most 15 metres wide. The Venere Azzurra, 0.8 km as the crow flies to the east, stretches for about 250 metres and is a free beach, with umbrellas, deckchairs, sunloungers and pedalos for hire.
Villa Magni was the residence of Percy Bysshe Shelley from April to September 1822. At Villa Marigola, in the early years of the twentieth century, the playwright Sem Benelli wrote La cena delle beffe. Today the castle of San Terenzo hosts temporary cultural events and exhibitions of paintings and photographs. Tellaro, 3.8 km as the crow flies to the south-east, is one of the Borghi più belli d'Italia (most beautiful villages in Italy).
Sources
- Wikipedia (it) — San Terenzo
- Wikipedia (en) — San Terenzo
- Wikivoyage (it) — Lerici
- FEE Italia — Bandiera Blu 2026, elenco spiagge
- OpenStreetMap
- EEA — Bathing water quality 2025 (IT007011016007)
- QualeSpiaggia — open data spiagge (CC BY 4.0)
- Comune di Lerici — Progetto di utilizzo delle aree demaniali marittime (PUD)
- Lerici Coast (sito turistico del Comune di Lerici) — Spiagge
- Lerici Coast (sito turistico del Comune di Lerici) — Borghi
- Lerici Coast (sito turistico del Comune di Lerici) — Castello di San Terenzo