Italy's tourism minister chastised misbehaving tourists after several incidents plagued the country this summer.
31.07.2023 - 15:05 / wanderlust.co.uk / Christopher Columbus
Say “Italian Riviera” and most people’s eyes light up. East of Genoa, the rainbow-coloured villages of Cinque Terre and bobbing superyachts of tiny Portofino are etched in travellers’ imaginations. But this is only half the story – the Riviera di Levante half. West of the Ligurian capital, skirting the coast for 150km to the French border, the Riviera di Ponente takes over, revealing beaches and wild mountain scenery every bit the equal of its sibling. And for those in the know, its mix of culture, outdoors and fine cuisine makes it irresistible.
Most visits begin in Genoa, the heart of Liguria. The city rises like an amphitheatre above the old port, surrounded by hills dotted with forts. The views across the Mediterranean from here are captivating, and it’s easy to see how the Ligurians became a seafaring people. Genoa even claims Christopher Columbus as its most famous son.
The city once lay at the heart of a powerful Maritime Republic. Genoa still has one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved medieval centres, which grew fat on the fortunes made from the early Crusades and the empire it built in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. As a result, today’s city museums and galleries are brimming with treasures.
By the late 19th century, the coast around Sanremo and Bordighera was the part of the Italian Riviera in which to be seen. European aristocracy spent their winters here and Sanremo is still full of elegant villas, among them the Villa Nobel where inventor Alfred Nobel (of “prize” fame) spent his final years. It is now a museum dedicated to his life.
There are more than just beaches here. Mountains rise up behind the coast, their foothills dotted with olive trees, vines and dramatic hilltop villages. These valleys are linked to the coast by roads that were only tarmacked in the 1960s. You’ll also find walking and cycling trails that criss-cross a land where each valley favours its own signature dish, made in the same way for generations. This was “Slow Food” long before the term was ever invented.
Indeed, food is a key part of the Ligurian experience, and the local cuisine favours simplicity. Some focaccia bread, a piece of farinata (chickpea-based pancake) and a slice of torta (pie stuffed with vegetables) makes for a fine picnic. And don’t forget the local pasta: a dish of trofie (small cylindrical twists) or pansotti, triangular shapes filled with wild herbs and typically eaten with a walnut sauce the Genoese brought back from Georgia, is not to be missed. This is the riviera that tastes as good as it looks.
The Riviera di Ponente in 5 days Day 1: GenoaFrom harbour Porto Antico, walk up to the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo – in its crypt are some amazing religious treasures. See the
Italy's tourism minister chastised misbehaving tourists after several incidents plagued the country this summer.
It's not often a restaurant can do much if diners manage to flee before paying for their meal.
Untouched by the coastline or national borders, and instead boasting unspoiled landscapes and spectacular views, Umbria has always been one of Italy's most mysterious and off-the-beaten-track regions—quite unlike its famous neighbor, Tuscany. But Umbrian food is just as good, and the atmosphere will often feel even more authentic given its wide array of cultural stimuli, from its widely known Jazz Festival to the incredible art collections scattered across medieval palaces, castles, and fortresses that are bound to take you back to bygone times.
When downtown rents dropped because of the pandemic, lots of ambitious shops, cafes and restaurants ended up launching as a result. There’s a real sense of revitalisation in the city.
It’s hard to know if Milan’s fashionistas are bemused more by my driving or by my vehicle as I stall, splutter and crunch the gears while double-parking the tuk-tuk on Via Monte Napoleone, the city’s swankiest street. Both it and I look comically out of place on a thoroughfare dripping with designer shops and high-end motors. I’ve just seen a Hermès shirt with a €10,500 price tag and spotted the Argentina World Cup winner and Inter Milan star Lautaro Martínez laden with Gucci shopping bags, and bouncing into a blacked-out Hummer with his girlfriend and minder.
International dialling code: +41 Currency: Swiss f
The 2,000 year old Roman walls that encircle the city are the longest, most complete, and oldest, still standing in Britain today. A walk around the walls will take 45 minutes to an hour depending on how fast you walk and how often you stop. You can see the entire city from the walls, including the UK's oldest racecourse and the Eastgate Clock - one of the most photographed clocks in England. There’s a lovely place to stop by the river, where you can watch the boats float by while tucking into an ice cream. Take centre stage at the Roman Amphitheatre The Roma
Wearing a crimson and sunshine-yellow flower crown, the young man is surrounded by his family, before there is the pop of the vino frizzante and the royal blue cups are filled for a merry toast to celebrate his graduation.
Many people use Genoa as an entry point to explore the Italian Riviera, including the famous (and often crammed) Portofino and Cinque Terre. But missing out on the charms of the city by rushing beyond it too soon would be a mistake.
Italy’s Riviera di Ponente, or Western Riviera, has long attracted travelers—in the late 19th century new rail connections made it easier for well-heeled and titled English and Russians to escape their dreary winters, but before and after WWII, destinations on the Côte d'Azur and Riviera di Levante (the Eastern Riviera), like Rapallo, Portofino, and later, Cinque Terre, stepped into the spotlight, drawing celebrity names and eventually flocks of tourists.
Lake Como, or Lago di Como, is what the Riviera is to France: An area of the country that is so beautiful and serene it has attracted the rich and famous for centuries. (It is no secret that George Clooney has a swanky villa along the lake.) All these wealthy celebrities have managed to create a bubble of luxury around this magnificent part of northern Italy by building immense and luxurious villas along the lake’s shore, but if you’re a non-millionaire traveler who wants in on the action, worry not, there are ways to have a good and affordable time on the shore of Italy’s most famous lake.
Visiting Castelmezzano, a town perched against the backdrop of the Dolomiti Lucane, was an accident during my recent southern Italy road trip. This stunning place is worth the detour from the main road cutting through Basilicata, and it comes paired with another beauty on the opposite mountain, Pietrapertosa. Travelling between the two can be completed on the Flight of the Angel – a high-speed zipwire that connects them. While the town is mesmerising, especially when viewed from a distance to admire its unique location, the surrounding area is full of epic hikes, forests and national parks.Nadia Parveen