The Museo dell’Olivo (Olive Museum), housed in the art nouveau Pedriali building, is genuinely fascinating — it traces the 6,000-year history of olive cultivation in the Mediterranean with artifacts, old presses, and tastings. Imperia produces some of Italy’s finest extra-virgin olive oil, particularly the Taggiasca variety, and the museum explains why the local microclimate and […]
Liguria might be famous for Portofino’s superyachts and five-star Grand Hotels, but there’s another side to sleeping on the Italian Riviera — one that involves falling asleep to the sound of waves, waking up in a tent pitched among olive groves, and paying less than the cost of a Milan aperitivo for a night under […]
Liguria is one of Italy’s most accessible regions for senior travellers. Its compact geography means you’re never more than an hour from the sea, the train network hugs the coast connecting every town, and the Italian concept of la dolce far niente — the sweetness of doing nothing — is practically a regional religion. This […]
Milan is one of Europe’s great cities — but when the summer heat hits the Navigli, or you simply need a break from fashion shows and aperitivo culture, Liguria is closer than you think. The Italian Riviera begins barely an hour south of Milan, and with high-speed trains connecting the two regions faster than most […]
Genoa is one of Italy’s great art cities — and one of its most overlooked. While Florence, Rome, and Venice draw the crowds, Genoa’s UNESCO-listed Palazzi dei Rolli hold one of the most spectacular collections of Renaissance and Baroque art anywhere in Europe, housed in palaces built by the maritime republic’s aristocratic families during its […]
There’s a moment when you first round the bend on the road from Ventimiglia and see Dolceacqua that you understand why Claude Monet spent months painting here. The medieval stone bridge — a single elegant arch spanning the Nervia River — frames the vista of the Doria Castle perched on the hillside above a cascade […]
Alassio is the Italian Riviera’s most glamorous beach town — a sweeping bay of golden sand backed by pastel-colored Liberty-style villas, a legendary shopping street, and a food scene that rivals anywhere in Liguria. Less frantic than Sanremo, more elegant than the Cinque Terre villages, Alassio has been the Riviera’s chic retreat since the 19th […]
If there’s one Italian ritual that defines summer on the Riviera, it’s the evening passeggiata with a cone of artisanal gelato in hand. Liguria may be famous for pesto and focaccia, but its gelato culture is every bit as serious — and locals will happily debate for hours which gelateria makes the creamiest stracciatella or […]
Liguria does luxury differently. You won’t find the flashy mega-resorts of the Amalfi Coast or the branded five-star chains of Lake Como. Instead, the Italian Riviera offers something rarer: aristocratic villas turned into intimate hotels, former fishermen’s houses with plunge pools carved into cliffs, and Belle Époque palaces where the ghosts of European royalty still […]
Ventimiglia is the town most visitors to the Italian Riviera pass through without stopping — the last station before the French border, glimpsed from a train window as the Mediterranean flickers between tunnels. That is a mistake. Spend a day here and you will find a town with one of Italy’s finest open-air markets, a […]
Aperitivo in Liguria isn’t just a pre-dinner drink — it’s a ritual. As the golden hour washes over the Italian Riviera, the clink of glasses and murmur of conversation fill the air from Genoa’s historic caruggi to the waterfront terraces of the Cinque Terre. This is the hour when Ligurians pause, gather, and savour the […]
Liguria is one of Italy’s most family-friendly regions, and yet it’s rarely marketed that way. The combination of sandy beaches (rare elsewhere on this coast), compact towns where everything is walkable, a cuisine that even picky eaters devour, and enough outdoor activities to tire out the most energetic children makes it an exceptional destination for […]