What Is Muzzerone?

Muzzerone is the headland that rises behind Portovenere, at the southern tip of the peninsula separating the Cinque Terre from the Gulf of La Spezia — the Golfo dei Poeti, named for Byron and Shelley, who both haunted these shores. Its seaward face is a run of white and grey limestone cliffs dropping towards the Tyrrhenian, looking out to Palmaria, the Apuan Alps and — on a clear day — Corsica, and the Muzzerone climbing area has quietly become one of Italy’s best sea-cliff venues, about 15 km from La Spezia and a world away from the Cinque Terre crowds shuffling along the coast path above.

The Muzzerone climbing story starts in the 1970s, when the Italian Navy’s special forces (Comsubin), based in the Varignano Bay at Le Grazie, used these walls for military training. Local climbers began bolting sport routes towards the end of that decade, and in the early 1990s the “Muzzerone” Free Climbing School was founded — reportedly the first school in Italy dedicated entirely to sport climbing. The cliffs have since been substantially re-bolted, and today the area holds around 540 routes spread across the 20 sectors of the current Versante Sud guidebook — which also covers a further eight crags along the Levante Ligure coast.

Muzzerone Climbing — The Rock & Style

Muzzerone climbing is on solid, compact limestone — mostly vertical to gently overhanging walls climbed on crimps, edges and water pockets that reward precise footwork and punish lazy fingers. Reviewers consistently describe the climbing as technical and elegant rather than brutish: this is a crag where good footwork gets you further than big shoulders.

The spread is broad. Most routes sit between 5a and 7c, but the full range runs from grade 3 slabs to 8b testpieces, and alongside the single pitches there are multi-pitch outings of two to three pitches on walls up to roughly 220 m. If you want steep power climbing, the word is Polveriera and Mandrachia; for thin, fingery test pieces it’s the Specchio di Atlantide.

Muzzerone Climbing Sectors & Grades

The Versante Sud guidebook divides Muzzerone into 20 sectors, worked along the cliff from Garimpo to Mandrachia: Garimpo, Specchio di Atlantide, Pilastro dell’Infinito, Atlantide, Solarium, Pilastro di Mezzo, Tibet and Pilastro dei Neri, Thunderdome, Parete Centrale, Cava degli Anelli, Parete delle Meraviglie/Poveriera, Polveriera, Parete Dimenticata, Pilastro del Forte, Pilone di Cajenna, Cajenna, Pilastro del Bunker, Parete Striata, Pilastro della Discordia and Mandrachia. The highlights below are a starting point, not a substitute for the guide.

Muzzerone Climbing — Key Sectors at a Glance

Sector	Character	Grades
Garimpo	Short, technical routes of 15–20 m	6c–8a+
Parete Centrale	The classic mid-grade wall of the crag	Mid grades, mixed styles
Specchio di Atlantide	Steep, fingery testpieces — the hard sector	7a–8b
Atlantide / Atlantide Bassa	Varied routes up to 75 m	6a+–8a
Mandrachia	Long, varied climbs	5a–8a
Parete delle Meraviglie / Poveriera	Big sea views, steep in places	3–7a

Plan Your Visit

When to Go

The walls face west to south-west over the sea, which makes Muzzerone climbing a proper year-round proposition by northern European standards. Autumn and spring are the sweet spots — stable weather, friendly temperatures. Winter is very much in play too: mild coastal conditions mean climbable days most weeks, which is exactly why this coast slots so neatly into a winter van route south. Summer is the compromise season — chase morning shade and count on the afternoon sea breeze, or do what we did and get in the water instead.

Getting There & Access

From La Spezia, drive towards Portovenere and turn right before Le Grazie — the turning is signposted “Palestra di Roccia” — following the road uphill for around 4 km to a fork; keep left and descend the hairpins towards the Muzzerone area. From the parking, sector approaches run roughly 10–25 minutes on cliff paths — some of them exposed, so keep an eye on kids and clumsy mates.

Being former military ground with an active naval base nearby, some zones around the headland have restrictions — respect any fencing and signage you meet, and check the local school’s updates for current access notes.

What to Bring

Rope: A 60 m covers most of what’s here. The exceptions are the long ones — single pitches run up to 75 m at Atlantide — so bring a 100 m if those are on your list, or climb on double ropes, which also makes the abseils simpler. Either way, check the topo before committing to a 60 m. Draws: 12–14 handles most single pitches; carry up to 20 for the longest routes. Also: a helmet is sensible on a sea cliff with paths above you, and the walls take full afternoon sun, so water and a hat matter more here than the sea view suggests.

Guidebook & Topo App

Essential: Muzzerone by Versante Sud

Digital Topos: The Topo App

Beyond Muzzerone — Climbing Around La Spezia

Muzzerone is the headline act, but the Gulf has a supporting cast worth knowing about if you’re basing here for a week or more:

Monte Marcello sits on the opposite arm of the gulf above Lerici, about 15 km from La Spezia, with sport routes roughly from 5c to 7c and the same sea-view payoff. The Versante Sud guide’s Levante Ligure chapter adds seven more: Rocchetta, Punta Bianca and Castellana towards the Tuscan border, and Sant’Anna, Punta Manara, Moneglia and Deiva Marina strung up the coast towards Genova. For actual rainy days, La Spezia has an indoor wall of over 200 m² inside the G. Mariotti sports hall on Via della Pianta.

And then there’s the option that doesn’t need a rope at all — which is what we chose in the August heat.

Van Life & Rest Days in the Golfo dei Poeti

A word of honest warning: this is not the empty Spanish plateau. The Portovenere–Cinque Terre corridor is one of the most visited stretches of coast in Italy, and van logistics reflect that — parking near Portovenere is tight and enforced in season, height barriers are common on the coastal lots, and free overnighting close to the water is largely a thing of the past in August. The practical play is to base slightly inland from the headline villages and look for spots around 30 minutes back from the coast to have a comfortable stay.

Where to Stay — Portovenere, Lerici & La Spezia

Not everyone rolls in with a bed in the back. Hotels and apartments in Portovenere itself are lovely and priced like it — La Spezia and the Lerici side give you far more for your money and an easy drive to the crag. The map below shows live prices for your dates:

Booking through this map supports the blog at no extra cost to you.

The rest-day problem here solves itself. Ferries hop from Portovenere to Palmaria island and along the Cinque Terre; the Golfo dei Poeti villages — Lerici, Tellaro, Le Grazie — are the kind of places you’d visit even without a crag above them; and the swimming is some of the best on the Ligurian coast, Cala Maramozza included if your knees can handle the descent. Shoulder-season visitors get all of it with half the crowds, which is one more argument for pointing the van here in October rather than July.

Our Deep Water Solo Day at Lerici — Cala Maramozza & the Scoglio del Macellaio

The stretch of coast between Lerici and Tellaro is quietly brilliant for deep water soloing — psicobloc, as the locals call it. No ropes, no gear, just climbing above deep water where the only consequence of falling is a swim. In August 2026 we spent a day doing exactly that.

First, the logistics, and let’s be blunt: parking anywhere near this coast in August is horrible. We gave up on getting close, parked here instead, and launched the paddle board from the little beach down by the road. Reaching it is a bit of a mission, but there is a path — follow the locals and you’ll find it. From the beach we paddled along the coast, swung wide around the military base on the headland, and arrived at our deep water solo spot here — the stretch around Cala Maramozza, a small cove hemmed in by walls and Mediterranean scrub, with water shifting between emerald and glass-clear blue. If you’d rather arrive on foot, fair warning: the path down to the cove is steep, unmarked and involves fixed ropes and a bit of nerve.

From the water we worked our way along the rock to the Scoglio del Macellaio — the “Butcher’s Rock”, named, so the local legend goes, after a Lerici butcher who threw himself from it over a broken heart. Cheerier than it sounds: the rock is pierced by a sea cave running right through it with three exits, and the light inside turns a ridiculous shade of blue. The neighbouring Cala Caletta is a protected archaeological zone, thanks to a Roman shipwreck found on the seabed complete with marble columns. Traversing above that kind of scenery, dropping into warm August water when your forearms give out, is about as good as climbing gets.

Practical Notes for DWS Around Lerici

A few things worth knowing before you try it. Access is easiest by water — kayak, SUP or inflatable — and paddling in as we did also solves the parking problem; on foot you’re committed to the Maramozza descent. Check the water depth beneath anything you climb before you climb it, every time — swell and seabed change, and the golden psicobloc rule is never climb higher than you’ve checked. Go in a group, keep a dry bag with you, and remember the caves and coves here are popular with swimmers and snorkellers in summer, so climb where you won’t land on anyone. This is unregulated soloing above the sea: it’s on you to judge conditions.

Muzzerone Climbing FAQ

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