The Protected Marine Area of the Cinque Terre National Park extends along the stretch of coast that comprises such famous places as Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare, the five villages collectively known as the Cinque Terre.

Beautiful spots are everywhere within this protected area, and not necessarily as sought-after as the five villages mentioned above. One such spot is the mysterious Byron’s Cave, named after the British poet Lord Byron, who, enamored with this area of Liguria, spent time in the Gulf of Poets (clearly, not the only poet to be mesmerized and inspired by the deep and wide bay on the eastern tip of Liguria's coast, stretching between the villages of Portovenere and Lerici; many British poets belonging to the literary Romanticism movement lived here).