 Sheltering
on the seaward side of the mountains that divide
Piemonte from the coast, Liguria is the classic
introduction to Italy for travelers 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 favorite
spot.
For the traveler, all of this is much less evident than
the sheer weight of history that the city supports.
There are of course the city's classical features, most
visibly the Colosseum, and the Forum and Palatine Hill;
but from here there's an almost uninterrupted sequence
of monuments - from early Christian basilicas,
Romanesque churches, Renaissance palaces, right up to
the fountains and churches of the Baroque period, which
perhaps more than any other era has determined the look
of the city today.
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 Levanto 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.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT
www.italiamia.com
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