A crescent of coast barely a few kilometres deep, pinned between the Ligurian Sea and the mountains, with Genoa — once one of the great maritime republics — at its centre. East of the city is the Riviera di Levante: Portofino, the Golfo dei Poeti, and the five cliff villages of the Cinque Terre. West is the Riviera di Ponente, warmer and more Mediterranean, running through Sanremo to the French border. Basil grows on those terraces, which is why pesto, focaccia and trofie belong here and nowhere else.
- Cinque Terre and the Sentiero Azzurro
- Portofino and Santa Margherita Ligure
- Genoa's caruggi, Palazzi dei Rolli and aquarium
- Portovenere and the Gulf of Poets
- Sanremo and the western Riviera
- Best time to go
- May–June and September for the coast paths and warm sea without the July–August crush. Cinque Terre is at its worst in August.
- Getting there
- Genoa airport; Pisa and Milan are the usual long-haul gateways. The coastal railway is the right way to move — every Cinque Terre village has a station.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Headline places
What italia.it leads with in Liguria.
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Cinque Terre Five cliff villages joined by footpaths, terraces and a railway - Palazzi dei Rolli, Genoa Forty-two Renaissance palaces that took turns hosting visiting heads of state
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Camogli Tall painted fishermen’s houses on a pebble bay, and the boat to San Fruttuoso -
Abbazia di San Fruttuoso A tenth-century abbey in a cove reachable only on foot or by boat
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
Islands
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
Liguria by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
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Art & culture More UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country on earth -
Food & wine Regional to the point of parochial — and all the better for it -
Coast & islands 7,900 km of coastline and around eighty inhabited islands -
UNESCO Italy Sixty World Heritage sites — the largest tally of any country -
Borghi & villages The hill towns that carry I Borghi più belli d'Italia and the Orange Flag -
Nature & national parks 25 national parks, from alpine glaciers to volcanic islands -
Sport & the outdoors Dolomiti Superski, the Giro's climbs and Garda's windsurfing -
Events & festivals The Palio, Carnevale, the Biennale and an opera season in a Roman arena -
Luxury Italy Portofino, the Costa Smeralda, Capri and the great lake villas
More of The North
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Aosta Valley Italy's smallest region, under the four highest mountains in the Alps -
Piedmont Barolo, white truffles, royal Turin and the Alps at the foot of the plain -
Lombardy Milan, the great lakes and the Alps of Valtellina -
South Tyrol German-speaking Italy under the Dolomites -
Trentino Dolomite valleys, Lake Garda's northern tip and Italy's alpine lakes -
Veneto Venice, Verona, Palladio's villas and the Dolomites of Cortina -
Friuli Venezia Giulia Habsburg Trieste, Roman Aquileia and Italy's finest white wines -
Emilia-Romagna Parmigiano, prosciutto, Ferrari and Ravenna's mosaics