Liguria - Itineraries

Trip ideas

Five star Liguria

Surrounded by vineyards planted on hills which plunge straight in to the sea, the towns of the Cinque Terre are a veritable natural oasis which in 1997 were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. To visit them, given that they are happily free of viable roadways, visitors are well advised to forget the car and use the local train service instead or, during the summer, the daily ferry service (for up to date timetable consult the...

From Rapallo to Sestri

The bay of San Michele di Pagana lies tucked behind a bend in the panoramic coastal road which from Santa Margherita leads to Rapallo. The village's Prelo beach is sheltered by Pagana point, a woody promontory on which to find one of the few Saracen Towers to have survived the passage of time intact. Embedded in a green crown of the hills, Rapallo is situated just 2kms from San Michele di Pagana. Rapallo is famous for its bobbin...

Sea, flowers and palm trees

Liguria's elegant Riviera del Ponente is an historic Italian holiday destination where, in centuries past, the European nobility and, in particular, the British, came to enjoy the area's mild climate and magnificent sun-kissed beaches. The wealthy elite who assiduously frequented this coast during the 19th and 20th centuries, were largely responsible for the construction of the Riviera's wonderful liberty style villas and romantic...

A taste of paradise

From Genoa the old Roman Road to Pisa, the Aurelia, heads at first Eastwards. The road, carved into the mountainside, with many modern overpasses, crosses over ancient villages and towns which cling to the cliffs, wending through pine forests and rocky hills, across a spectacular landscape until it reaches Portofino. This Roman Road crossed over a bridge at your first stop, Bogliasco. The remains of this bridge still stand. The focal...

The sea and city of Genoa

The "caruggi" are the narrow roads of Genoa's medieval historic center; the "creuza", the steep mule path which, from the hilltops, descends into the valley; and the creuza de ma the road leading to the sea. Those familiar with the songs of Fabrizio De Andrè will have heard these words on numerous occasions. The singer-songwriter filled an entire album (Creuza de ma, 1984) with tales of the brothel-lined...