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.
There’s the the stunning beauty, of course, but Roberta Giovannina, founder of Sanremo Experience, a firm specializing in travel excursions in Liguria and the Côte d'Azur, says the Riviera di Levante’s location (Genoa to the Tuscan border) is another reason the area continues to entice millions of travelers. “It’s close to Florence and Milan with good connections to Rome,” she says. “From these destinations it’s easy to reach Genoa and Cinque Terre. You need more time to reach the Western Riviera.”
But the Western Riviera, that stretch of scenic, if somewhat flatter, coast running west of Genoa to the French border, is definitely worth the effort to get to. (Easiest connections from the US are through Nice.) Giovannina says that while many of her clients have Cinque Terre high on their to-see lists, frequent travelers to Italy are also eager to seek out new destinations.
“Well-travelled Americans love the Riviera dei Fiori.* They consider it sort of an extension of the French Riviera,” she says. After lockdown she notes that visitors have been keen to explore “hidden medieval villages for a full immersion in nature, local traditions, art and history. The keyword nowadays is off-the-beaten path. In this area [we] have some of the best villages of Italy.” (*The Western Riviera has several sub-sections—the Riviera dei Fiori reaches from the French border to Cervo, and the Riviera delle Palme, roughly from Laigueglia to Varazze. The coastal area near Genoa is called the Beigua Riviera.)
Visitors to the Riviera di Ponente can choose a resort city like glamorous Sanremo or smaller places, such as the medieval village of Cervo, with many interesting stops along the way. Here are two towns worth getting to know if you’re heading to the Western Riviera.
Bordighera, an elegant town on the Riviera dei Fiori, is very much an insider resort—a choice getawway for second homes for Italians and other Europeans attracted by the wonderful climate, fin-de-siècle villas, luxuriant gardens and vistas that enchanted Monet. (The artist, intending to visit for a few weeks, was captivated by the town’s beauty, and stayed several months.)
In Bordighera, as in Sanremo, architectural styles pivot between the medieval and Belle Epoque, a period when the town became a prime
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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.
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DNA technology is increasingly changing the way we view the world, and now it may be changing travel. If you’ve ever considered taking a DNA test to uncover your heritage, or have gone down a records rabbit hole to find your ancestors, you can now physically follow your roots to the far-off destinations they’ll point you to.
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I wasn’t always a Disney person. Anyone who knew me in my twenties or thirties knows this. I mean, sure, I knew other people might enjoy traveling with Disney, but it definitely wasn’t for me. I liked hiking, trekking, camping; not crowds, not theme park rides, not Disney.
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