t Exotic plants in the elegant Villa Hanbury gardens, founded by an English botanist
An unassuming promontory is the setting for some of the most important caves in northern Italy. Guided tours lead through the pre-Iron Age dwellings, which contain excavated burial sites where the dead were adorned with seashells. The Museo Nazionale dei Balzi Rossi contains tools, weapons and stone-etched female figures dating from 100,000 years ago.
" ⌂ Via Balzi Rossi 9 § 0184 381 13 # 8:30am–7:30pm Tue–Sun ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec
Experience Liguria
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EAT Here are two of the best gelaterie in San Remo. Gelateria Profumo Serves excellent traditional gelato. ⌂ Vico Superiore del Ferro 14 \\\ Profumo di Rosa Rosa prepares all the gelato herself – hazelnut is the most popular flavour. ⌂ Via Cairoli 13 \\\ |
t Exotic plants in the elegant Villa Hanbury gardens, founded by an English botanist
In 1867, the English botanist Sir Thomas Hanbury and his brother bought this seaside villa on a promontory. They took full advantage of the exceptionally mild Ligurian climate to establish a garden of exotic plants.
The collection, gathered by Hanbury on trips to Africa and Asia, has grown to number more than 3,000 varieties of tropical flora, including rubber trees, palms and wild cacti.
This pretty village, 8 km (5 miles) north of Ventimiglia, is built on either side of the River Nervia, its two halves joined by an arching 33-m (108-ft) medieval stone bridge. The highlight is the ruined 12th- to 15th-century castle, inhabited for a while in the 16th century by the powerful Doria family from Genoa. The two square towers at the front dominate the village. The terraced vineyards in the surrounding hills produce grapes for a robust red wine known as Rossese or vino di Dolceacqua.
San Remo is a pleasant resort of faded elegance. The composer Tchaikovsky, Alfred Nobel (the father of modern explosives) and the nonsense poet Edward Lear all stayed in the stuccoed mansions of the palm-lined seafront avenue, the Corso Imperatrice. The focus of the town, then as now, is the Casino. A little further down the Corso stands the ornate Russian Orthodox church of San Borilio.
The old town, La Pigna (fir cone), is a huddle of narrow lanes with medieval houses and pastel-coloured shutters. A coach service goes from San Remo to San Romolo, a small village 786 m (2,579 ft) above sea level that offers beautiful views of the area.
A delightful wholesale flower market is held in Valle Armea (5–7am, Oct–Jun, www.sanremoflowermarket.it), while the Italian Song Festival takes place here in February.
Bussana Vecchia is a marvellously atmospheric ghost town. In February 1887 an earthquake shook the village, reducing its Baroque church and surrounding houses to ruins. (One survivor, Giovanni Torre del Merlo, went on to invent the ice-cream cone.)
The town was rebuilt closer to the sea and since then the original village has been taken over by artists, who have restored some interiors, providing a venue for summer concerts and exhibitions.
t Sunset over the village of Cervo, on a hillside overlooking the sea
Cervo is a pretty seafront village with a narrow complex of streets and houses rising dramatically up from the shingle beach. At the top of the village stands the concave Baroque façade of San Giovanni Battista. Chamber orchestra performances are held in front of the church in July and August. The church is also known as the “dei corallini”, after the coral fishing that once brought prosperity to the local people.
Until the Middle Ages, the Roman port of Albium Ingaunum played an important role. The sea, however, gradually moved further out, leaving the town, now called Albenga, stranded on the Centa River. Most striking now is its Romanesque brick architecture, in particular the three 13th-century towers clustered around the cathedral of San Michele. To the south is an intriguing 5th-century Baptistry with a ten-sided exterior and octagonal interior. Inside, the original 5th-century blue-and-white mosaics of doves represent the 12 Apostles.
In a 14th-century palace on Piazza San Michele is the Museo Navale Romano, founded in 1950 following the salvage of a Roman ship that had sunk in the 1st century BC. The museum contains ancient amphorae as well as exhibits salvaged from more recent shipwrecks.
" ⌂ Piazza San Michele § 347 808 58 11 # Tue–Sun (Oct–Apr: groups only Sun) ¢ 1 Jan, Easter, 25 Dec
" ⌂ Piazza San Michele 12 § 0182 512 15 # Tue–Sun ¢ 1 Jan, Easter, 25 Dec
t Fascinating geological formations in the Grotte di Toirano
Beneath the medieval town of Toirano lies a series of caves housing relics of Paleolithic life dating from 100,000 years ago.
The Grotta di Santa Lucia reveals the full beauty of the yellow and grey stalactites and stalagmites formed here over millennia.
The Museo Etnografico della Val Varatella, in the 16th-century stables of the Palazzo del Marchese, has a collection of agricultural and domestic tools.
" ⌂ Via G Polla, Toirano § 0182 98 99 68 # 10am–1pm & 3–6pm daily
Built on a pine-wooded slope, Camogli is a fishing village where seashells adorn the pastel-painted house walls. Near the pebble beach and fishing port is the medieval Castello della Dragonara.
Camogli celebrates its famous Blessing of the Fish festival on the second Sunday of May. Sardines are fried in a huge pan and distributed free to everyone.
Portofino is Italy’s most exclusive resort and harbour town, crammed with the yachts of the wealthy. You can reach it by road (although cars are not allowed into the village), or by boat, from the resort of Santa Margherita Ligure. Above the town are the church of San Giorgio, containing relics said to be those of the dragon-slayer, and a castle.
On the other side of the peninsula, which you have to reach on foot (a 2-hour walk) or by boat, is the Abbazia di San Fruttuoso, named after a 3rd-century saint whose followers were shipwrecked here and, according to legend, protected by three lions. The white abbey buildings, set among pines and olive trees, date mostly from the 11th century, although the imposing Torre dei Doria was added some 500 years later. Experienced divers can sign up for excursions to try to locate the Cristo degli Abissi, a bronze statue of Christ that sits 17-m (55-ft) deep on the sea bed near San Fruttuoso and is said to protect sailors.
" ⌂ San Fruttuoso § 0185 77 27 03 # Mar–Oct: daily; Nov–Jan: Tue–Sun
Historians know Rapallo as the place where two post-World War I treaties were signed, while film buffs might recognize it from the 1954 movie The Barefoot Contessa, which was shot here. Rapallo was also a haven for writers such as D H Lawrence and Ezra Pound. The palm-lined esplanade ends in a 16th-century castle. A cable car from the centre of the town leads to the 16th-century Santuario di Montallegro, which houses a Byzantine icon said to possess miraculous powers.
⌂ Montallegro § 0185 23 90 00 # Daily ¢ Noon–2:30pm
The Grotte de Toirano once provided shelter for cave bears during hibernation.
t The picturesque village of Portovenere, with colourful houses and a busy marina
Portovenere is one of the most romantic villages on the Ligurian coast, with its cluster of narrow streets lined with pastel-coloured houses. In the upper part of the village is the 12th-century church of San Lorenzo. A sculpture over the doorway here depicts the martyrdom of the saint who was roasted alive on a grill. On the stone promontory that curls out into the sea is the small, black-and-white, 13th-century church of San Pietro.
The popular resort of Lerici sits on the edge of a beautiful bay overlooked by pastel-coloured houses. The forbidding medieval Castello di Lerici (13th century) was built by the Pisans and later passed to the Genoese. Today it houses a museum of geopaleontology and hosts art exhibitions and concerts.
The village of San Terenzo, across the bay, is where the poet Shelley spent his last years. It was from his home, the Casa Magni, that he set out in 1822 on a voyage to meet Leigh Hunt in Livorno. Tragically, he was shipwrecked near Viareggio and drowned.
" ⌂ Piazza San Giorgio # Tue–Sun ¢ 9–26 Dec ∑
Experience Liguria
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STAY Hotel San Terenzo Rooms here come with balconies and sea views. Guests can rent boats, plus there are good ferry links to the Cinque Terre. ⌂ Via S Biaggini 42, San Terenzo ∑ hotelsanterenzo.it ¡¡¡ B&B La Matta Gatta The rooms at this simple-but-chic family-run B&B a short walk from the beach have huge windows and stunning sea views. ⌂ La Sare 21, Lerici § 334 293 7377 ¡¡¡ |