LIGURIA

The vocation of this region is summed up in the shape of its territory: an arch dotted with many small villages that are stick to the land and at the same time cast on the sea. And its two edges, on the West and on the East, one in front of the other like the figure-heads of a ship. Liguria features one of the oldest tourist traditions in Italy and a lot of people went there in the past to search for the “Mediterranean myth” and fell in love with it.
Among these people there were famous writers such as  Shelley, Byron and Dickens and painters such as Corot and Monet. Liguria is an endless surprise box, starting from its county town, very reach in history and monuments: before being a town “on” the sea, Genoa is a town “of” the sea where its own destiny was built. It’s also a matter of space: it is closed on the Northern side by an amphitheatre of hills so it is forced to look ahead and offer an amazing artistic heritage. After recognizing Genoa as the heart of the region, you can divide it into two big coasts, the Western coast and the Eastern one.

There are a number of real beautiful places, like Camogli, the typical village from Liguria, with its narrow alleys, staircases and ways, the colorful houses along the coastline. Then Portofino – with its very famous small square where the International jet set likes spending free time, looking on to the small harbor where the Ferrari of the sea are moored -, Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo, Chiavari and Sestri Levante up to the fishing villages of Cinque Terre with their vineyards and very peculiar terraces that stretch from the headland of Portovenere behind La Spezia to reach Lerici.

On the western coast there a number of famous sea resorts – all of them feature a very old tradition and stand out because of a number of peculiar details –  the very famous towns of Alassio, Albenga, Arma di Taggia, Bordighera, Diano Marina, Finale Ligure, Loano, Noli, Spotorno, Varazze. They are simply sorted according to the alphabet. When the sand almost reaches the French border, near the Blue Coast, you are in the Coast of the Flowers, an explosion of perfumes and colors headed by the town of Sanremo. It isn’t just a fatal attraction for the society life but it is also a case of old treasures such as the still untouched enclosure walls, fortresses and medieval gates. At the western edge there is Bordighera, with its aristocratic personality and its cultural, archaeological and botanical charm.

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