Liguria
Why go?
One of Italy's smallest regions, Liguria is a slice of prime
Mediterranean real estate tucked between the French Côte
d'Azur to its west and Tuscany to its east. With such auspicious
neighbours, not to mention 200km of largely stunning coastline
– thickly wooded hills plunging into clear seas beside
picturesque stacks of pastel houses and enclosed fishing harbours
– it's no surprise that the region is extremely popular with
tourists in summer, not least the Italians themselves.
One of their – and our – favourite haunts is the
Portofino peninsula, a much-sung playground of the rich and famous
(Armani and Versace have villas there), though you don't need a
million-dollar yacht to enjoy its car-free coastline: a pair of
boots or a little hire boat will do. Our favourite base is the
fishing village of Camogli, a charming crescent of sand, pastel
townhouses and fishing boats which is close enough to the action
for aperitivi with the glitterati of Portofino and Santa Margherita
(should you desire), but far enough away for room and restaurant
prices to be reasonable, and the sense of community to remain
intact. In fact the town has 2 of Italy's most colourful and
public-spirited festivals: the Festa della Stella Maris in August,
where 10,000 floating candles are released from the beach to meet a
similar number of candles from nearby Punta Chiappa out at sea; and
the fishfest of the Sagra del Pesce in May, where as many as 30,000
sardines are fried in a 5-metre pan, duly blessed by the priest,
and then promptly devoured by the entire population of the
town.
Another deserved hot-spot is the Unesco-listed stretch of coastline
known as the Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink-wé
Terré), whose cliff-ringed pastel villages and steeply
terraced hillsides are linked by vertiginous footpaths and a scenic
railway, making it a paradise for walkers. One of the classic
trails, the Via dell'Amore, links the villages of Riomaggiore and
Manarola in a roller coaster of sea views, and the energetic can
continue to Corniglia (if you don't mind climbing 368 steps at the
end). In fact it's possible, over the course of a not-too-strenuous
week, to walk all the way from Levanto to Portovenere on the tip,
finishing with a boat trip to the tiny islets of Palmaria and Tino,
where pilgrims gather every 13 September at the ruins of an ancient
hermitage (at other times you'll have to overwhelm a naval garrison
if you want to come ashore). The only caveat is to avoid July and
August, when the area swarms with families from northern Italian
cities and hotel availability for anything less than a week is like
gold dust.
West of both is the region's capital, Genoa (Genova in Italian), a
bustling industrial port which has its fair share of spectacular
architecture and designer shopping around the via Garibaldi, as
well as an airport with handy links to London.