Liguria

This is the Italian Riviera Di Ponente and Riviera di Levante.

If you are coming from France, just drive along the coast, and as you leave France, you enter the Liguria Region of Italy. We travel to this area on a regular basis as here is the town of Alassio - one of our favourite locations.

Alassio has been fighting off modern development, so it still has an old town charm, although in recent years there has been some development taking place and as we look back at the changes over the past 20 some years I guess things can't stay frozen in time for ever.

Santa Margherita Liqure, Portfonio and the Cinque Terra are other spots that you would not want to miss.

If you are driving through the Region, and you are planning or hoping to get somewhere on a schedule drive on the Autostrada. The other highways offer great views but it will take forever to get to your destination.

Some years, when it seems we had plenty of time we have driven the coastal highway. Great ready to slow down as you enter town after town. Yes the are some ooohhhs and aaaahhs views along the way, but you really have to have patience.

Alassio

As we plan out what will happen for the rest of our lives, this is the place we say we want our ashes deposited. We have stayed in Alassio many times. It has one of the best beaches in Italy. Soft, clean, sand and warm water.

We have established ourselves as regulars at at hotels such as the Hotel Tirreno - see our notes in Great Places to Stay. And, Alassio has some of the best gelato to be found in Italy.

View from a Hotel Tirreno	The great beach of Alassio
Pleasant streets of the town

The older 19th century development too place as at the time, the English discovered Alassio and it became part of the "grand tour of Italy". Because of this, and the fact that the city did not let modern development tear everything down to build concrete hotels along the water, there is still a good feel to the place.

We watched the building of the new convention centre. This does involve the restoration of the classic old Hotel Alassio but we wonder what price will be paid for that contribution. I know that when Karen was talking to some of the hotels while booking some trips for folks (Marcus Travel Planning), even the hotel owners are getting worried about what the convention centre will do to the town. We will have to return and see how things are going.

Santa Margherita Ligure

So if we are not staying in Alassio, we are most likely staying in Santa Margherita Ligure.

I know, at one brief moment a number of years ago I think I said I had been here too many times, but that thought has gone!

The town is scenic and the location is very good. This is a great town to serve as a base for travels in the area. You can walk the two km along the water to Portofino, or drive or take a bus to this eye stopper.

Also, the train station is right in the town and in a half hour you can be on the Cinque Terre - and with the limited roads you don't want to be thinking about take a car into that area anyway.

When in Santa Margherita Ligure we now stay at the Hotel Jolanda (see Great Places to Stay). We have also stayed at the Albergo Fasce which is a very nice hotel both hotels are only a few blocks up from the water. So it is a short pleasant walk.

Beautiful coastline along Santa Margherita Ligure	Grand old hotels along the water and up the hill.
Walkway along the coast with the old town in the background.

Portofino

I know that when people hear the phrase "day trip location" it can lead to the question: do we really want to go there? But in this case, yes.

This is one of the most unspoiled promontories on the Ligurian Coast. The harbour is scenic. You can walk up to the 16th century fortress of S. Giorgio and get great views of the bay. If you take your car, and you really don't have to, there is a parkade on the outskirts of the town and then you walk down to the harbour.

The multi-coloured houses line the harbour. You can pick up some food and wine in one of the stores and walk down to the harbour and enjoy a picnic lunch - or eat in one of the fine cafes along the water.

Camogli

Camogli is another one of the towns that you can drive to when you stay in Santa Margherita.

We visited it in 1995 when we drove down to the coast to meet Karen's parents. Camogli is a fishing village — and it is the colours of the buildings, and the location, built on the steep cliffs, the harbour and multitude of small boats of a rainbow of colours, that you will certainly remember.

 

Portovenere

Just past La Spezia is the town of Portovenere. We stayed here one night and enjoyed a really the sights and great meal.

You can walk along the water out to the San Pietro church. It dates from the 6th Century and was rebuilt in the 13th Century. It has a sharp appearance, with white and black stripped marble.

So enjoy the views, and the slower life pace of this town and count the cats - there seems to be an endless number.

Rapollo

We have stayed here when we could not get a hotel in Santa Margherita Ligure. One year Karen's parents were traveling in Italy at the same time we were. Well, despite the fact that we were in Alba (just south of Torino) we decided "what the heck" - lets drive down to Santa Margherita Ligure and surprise her parents.

Well it was a beautiful drive and one we would recommend as you travel you scenic vineyards, mountains and hills. Out motto, if there is an autostrada, well we can be there.

We arrived in the evening only to find there was not a hotel room to be found despite the even increasing price point we were prepared to spend.

We gave up and drove the few kilometres down the coastal road to Rapollo. It has its own charm and the town has a buzz and pace to it.

 

San Remo

After driving through or around this town on many many trips along the coast, in 2001 we decided to stay one night and see what the town was like.

We had dropped our friends the Grants off in Nice and they headed back to Vancouver and we headed towards Italy. San Remo is just a short drive from Nice.

So the picture at the right pretty much sums up the town. Lots of old multi-coloured buildings, lots of traffic, and lots of hotels that one day were just "the" place to stay. San Remo was one of the destinations for the English on their tours of Italy in the 19th Century. Some of the hotels have been renovated very nicely. Some, well they have seen better days. We stayed in one that was almost there in terms of being a find!

We are not into going to a casino, and there is a large one in San Remo, but it was a pleasant short stop.