Rail route of the month: from Genoa to Ventimiglia, Italy – a line of cinematic brilliance

03.06.2024 - 12:45 / theguardian.com

Nature has its way of derailing travel plans. A landslide in August 2023 in the French Alps blocked the main railway just west of the Mont Cenis tunnel. This route is used by all trains from Italy to Lyon and Paris. The sleek French TGVs and the even sleeker Italian Frecciarossa trains competing on the lucrative link from Milan to the French capital were stopped in their tracks. Many passengers bound for Paris and London from Italy rerouted through Switzerland, while others devised creative itineraries via the Riviera, using the historic railway running west from Genoa which, in 1872, became one of the first two routes crossing the frontier from Italy into France. The Mont Cenis route still hasn’t reopened so, needing to travel from Trieste to France, I opt for a dose of Ligurian sunshine and take the train via Genoa, following the coast west from there into France.

This is a stretch of coast my partner and I know well. From the autostrade or the railway, the landscape seems quite tame. Up close, we see just how challenging the terrain can be. Stray off a footpath into the macchia, and you quickly encounter a tangle of thorny shrub and fierce ravines. There are rock roses, tree heathers, myrtle and broom drenched in yellow flowers and the salty tang of the sea. Move inland from the coast, and there are the scents of Liguria: lavender, sage and wild garlic which, along with pesto, focaccia and green window shutters, make the Riviera di Ponente (the coast west of Genoa) so captivating.

None of the romance of Liguria is remotely evident on a busy Monday morning at Genoa Piazza Principe. The station’s elaborate neoclassical facade sports a fine crest of Saint George, a reminder that Genoa was paying homage long before England claimed the dragon slayer as its patron. The station’s striking entrance hall combines modern Italian chic with retro nods to history. I make my way through morning commuter crowds and locate the train to Ventimiglia, looking forward to the journey of about 90 miles (145km) that lies ahead.

Soon we are on our way, slipping by crumbling palazzi and out through the edgelands of Genoa. We cross the Polcevera River, passing quaysides and a fine parade of cranes. To the left, there’s a view through a canyon of containers to a distant cruise ship. We have barely left Genoa, but already an announcement has relayed detailed instructions on how to file a complaint if everything on this journey is not perfectly to our liking. I see no grounds for complaining. There is a fine view of the ArcelorMittal steelworks to the left, and a pause at a signal givies us time to imagine the possible itinerary of the Liberian-registered crude oil tanker moored nearby.

This is another world from the Liguria