Italy Country Guide - Liguria

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The most convenient budget airports for Liguria are Genoa, Pisa and Nice (a short train trip into France). Good train services run all along the curving coastline, and buses connect the smaller destinations.

From the top of Italy's boot, the slender region of Liguria stretches westward to meet the border with France. This long stretch of coastline encompasses the important port of Genoa, the cliffside villages of the Cinque Terre, and the elegant promenades of the Italian Riviera. The Maritime Alps, which meet the sea in Liguria, reach up to over 2,600m in height, making the region's terraine steep and dramatic.

The region's four provinces are Genova (Genoa), Imperia, La Spezia and Savona.

Ligurian food is filling and delicious. The flower-growing region is also famous for its edible produce: olives, peaches, asparagus, artichokes and tomatoes; speciality dishes include pesto - with pasta or even on pizza - and products based on potatoes and chickpeas. Specially recommended is farinata a tasty snack which is made from chickpeas and which is delicious eaten hot in a takeaway.

Different types of holiday can be enjoyed in Liguria. As a city destination, Genoa has a lot to offer, historic palazzi and fascinating museums. On the Riviera, closest to France, San Remo and Bordighera can be combined well with trips into France and Monaco; there are excellent train and bus connections linking the French Riviera with the Italian Riviera. And all along the Ligurian coast, trips inland will take you to hillside villages, wooded mountains and even winter skiing destinations. Touring by car is a good option for those wanting to see the entire region.

South of busy Genoa, the coast winds through some of Italy's prettiest scenery. Portofino, a tiny harbour town famed for its elegance, sits at the tip of a large promontory; just to the south, Santa Margherita Ligure is a larger, stately resort where palms wave along the esplanade. The coastal route south touches other popular resorts - Rapallo, Sestri Levante - before reaching the famed mountainous coastline of the Cinque Terre.

These are five picturesque fishing villages set along the beautiful steep coastline, with plenty of good walks which attract crowds of energetic tourists. Just a little further south, Portovenere on its rocky headland marks the beginning of the huge coastal indent, the Golfo dei Poeti, haunt of Byron and the Shelleys. The area's largest town, La Spezia, sits across the inside of the bay, on the southern side prettier towns include Lerici (where the Shelleys lived) and San Terenzio.

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