Visit Gorgeous Towns In Italy AND France When You Stay Here

29.05.2024 - 13:17 / forbes.com

Italy and France are among the most visited countries in the world and for good reason—an extraordinary trove of epoch-spanning cultural treasures and outstanding natural settings that include Alps, vineyard-covered countryside and captivating coastal areas. Since most vacations come with time limits, even the most devoted Franco-Italophiles know it isn’t always easy or practical to try to fit in both destinations in one frenzied holiday swoop.

But there is an easy solution if you don’t want to have to choose—stay on the westernmost part of the Italian Riviera (Imperia) or in the easternmost part of the Côte d’Azur (Menton), so you can easily hop between Italy and France and experience some of the best locations each has to offer. If your hotel is in Sanremo, Italy, for example, Nice is only about an hour’s drive away. From Menton, you can travel the length of Imperia’s Riviera di Fiori, also in about an hour by car.

Here’s what to do and see in these neighboring and sublime coastal regions.

In the Middle Ages, many Riviera villages were located on perches overlooking the sea—the better to spot potential invaders and pirates hovering offshore, a recurring threat that lasted until the 1600s.Densely packed with compact stone houses and a warren of steep streets, these hamlets typically tucked churches, a castle stronghold and surveillance towers within their fortified walls. In later centuries, newer districts grew up around the ancient cores, so when you visit today, you get an old-town/new-town experience.

Sanremo’s old town is called “La Pigna” (pinecone), as the streets were mapped in a way that resembles the pattern of pinecone scales. Dating from 1000 A.D., La Pigna is easily accessible from Sanremo’s major shopping street, Via Giacomo Matteotti. The Regina Elena Gardens, named after a queen of Italy, make a nice resting spot after the trek to the top of this historic settlement, where the views of the port and town are outstanding.

In Bordighera, head to the Città Alta, a compact former borgo crisscrossed with centuries-old caruggi, where you’ll find small shops and restaurants offering sea-centric Bordighera cuisine. Imperia was a comune created in 1923, uniting the towns of Oneglia and Porto Maurizio, along with a cluster of nearby hamlets. Parasio, the centro storico of Porto Maurizio, sits on a promontory and offers diverse architectural styles—medieval, baroque and neoclassical.

The old town in France’s Menton, designated a “Ville d’art et Histoire” in 1991, rises above the Vieux-Port and is a delight to explore, especially the Rue Longue, an ancient street from the 13th century.The piazza outside the landmark Basilica Saint-Michael has commanding views of the area. It is also where the