Sheltering on the seaward side of
the mountains that divide Piemonte
from the coast,
Liguria is
the classic introduction to Italy
for travellers journeying overland
through France. There's an
unexpected change as you cross the
border from Nice and Monaco: the
Italian
Riviera (as Liguria's
commercially developed strip of
coast is known) has more variety of
landscape and architecture than its
French counterpart, and is generally
less frenetic. The mountains which,
in places, drop sheer to the sea are
treated as an irrelevance by most
visitors eager to press on to their
chosen resort, but Liguria's lofty
hinterland can offer respite from
the standard format of beach, beach
and more beach. Teetering on slopes
carpeted with olives and vines are
isolated mountain villages that
retain their own rural culture and
cuisine.
The chief city of the region is Genoa
, an ancient, sprawling port often
acclaimed as the most atmospheric of
all Italian cities. It has a dense
and fascinating old quarter that is
complemented by a vibrant social and
ethnic mix and a newly energized
dockside district. The city stands
midway between two distinct
stretches of coastline. To the west
is the Riviera di Ponente ,
one long ribbon of hotels packed out
in summer with Italian families who
book a year ahead to stay in their
favourite spot. Picking your route
carefully means you can avoid the
worst of it. San Remo , the grande-dame
of Riviera resorts, is flanked by
hillsides covered with glasshouses,
and is a major centre for the
worldwide export of flowers; Albenga
and Noli are attractive
medieval centres that have also
retained a good deal of character;
and Finale Ligure is a
thoroughly pleasant Mediterranean
seaside town.
On Genoa's eastern side is the
more rugged Riviera di Levante
. Umbrella pines grow horizontally
on the cliff-faces overlooking the
water, and in the evening a glassy
calm falls over the little bays and
inlets. Walks on Monte di
Portofino and in the coastal
scenery of the famed Cinque Terre
take you through scrubland and
vineyards for memorable vistas over
broad gulfs and jutting headlands.
This mix of mountains and fishing
villages accessible only by boat
appealed to the early
nineteenth-century Romantics, who
"discovered" the Riviera
in the eighteenth century, preparing
the way for other artists and poets
and the first package tourists. Now
the whole area explodes into quite a
ruck every July and August, with
resorts like Portofino
qualifying as amongst the most
expensive in the country - although
nearby Santa Margherita Ligure
has its unpretentious moments, and Lévanto
is a great place to make for if you
just want to soak up the sun on a
budget. Visiting out of season, of
course, is a peaceful way to enjoy
the beauty without the hubbub.
In the summer months, though, the
only real way to avoid the crowds is
to travel inland. Minor roads and
mule tracks link villages built
spiral-fashion around hilltops,
originally as protection against
Saracen invasion. A testing
long-distance footpath, the Alta
Via dei Monti Liguri runs from
pass to mountain pass along the
length of Liguria, but aside from
the odd section accessible on public
transport from the coast it's mainly
for hardened pros. Nonetheless,
high-altitude resorts such as Santo
Stefano d'Aveto and Torriglia
offer plenty of summer walking (and,
in places, winter skiing) that can
lift you a world away from the
resorts down below on the sea.
In a car , the shore road
is for the most part a
disappointment: the coast is
extremely built up, and in fact you
get a much better sense of the
beauty of the region by taking the
east-west autostrada which
cuts through the mountains a few
kilometres inland by means of a
mixture of tunnels and viaducts.
Fleeting bursts of daylight between
tunnels give glimpses of the string
of resorts along the coast, silvery
olive groves and a brilliant sea.
However, the easiest way to take in
the region is by train :
there are regular services stopping
just about everywhere and, because
the track is forced to squeeze along
the narrow coastal strip, stations
are invariably centrally located in
towns and villages.
Liguria's regional tourist
office is based at Piazza
Matteotti 9, Genoa (tel
010.530.8201, www.turismo.liguriainrete.it
) - check out their encyclopedic
website, which has information in
English on every town and village in
the region, plus the option to
reserve at any hotel, campsite or
agriturismo farmhouse. The excellent
spiral-bound Liguria Tourist
Atlas , published by the
regional government in collaboration
with cartographers DeAgostini, is
invaluable if you're spending any
time in the region and has useful
detailed plans of town centers.
