What region is best for you?
Discover what regions offer you the experiences you're dreaming of.

The Riviera

Pat and Mervyn enjoying boat ride out of Camogli port

Do you love nature, the sea, beauty, colours, seafood, vegetables, herbs and beaches? Yes?
The Riviera is for you!

The Riviera coast extends from the French border along the coast east to Genoa and south down to Tuscany. Famous for its milder climate, it explodes with colour and beauty: little towns with narrow houses each a different colour spill down terraces, a clear azure sea, terraces of olive trees and vineyards spilling down hills above the sea, sandy beaches, sumptuous villas with gardens full of flowers, magnificent views from the green hills to the sea.

Towns

La Spezia, in the south, is a transport hub with busy harbour and naval base. From there you catch trains or boats to Cinque Terre and buses to Portovenere.

Portovenere is a very pretty fishing village where the tall houses along the harbour, each a different colour, form a wall of vertical stripes along the sea. Houses in the walled centre climb up terraces to the imposing castle on top. From here boats take you to the Cinque Terre, about 15 minutes away.

Many panoramic, peaceful walking paths wind along the Riviera’s coast, the most famous being in the Cinque Terre. The paths cling to steep hillsides falling to the sea, terraced in olive trees and vineyards or covered with Mediterranean scrub, forests and wild flowers. Spectacular views take your eyes far out to sea and along the coast. You can walk to all five charming little towns that have a down to earth feel despite all the tourists. Or take the boat or train.

North of Cinque Terre you see larger resort towns like Levanto with long white beaches and older, elegant resort towns like Santa Margherita and Rapallo, with long seafront promenades lined with palm trees, up market cafes and good hotels, pleasant historic centres, beaches and lots of tourist shops.

Portofino’s beautiful harbour is filled with impressive looking yachts and designer style stores. Pretty little Camogli feels like a breath of fresh air with its “real people live here” atmosphere, less commercialism and smaller size. It has good restaurants, lovely views and one very nice four star hotel. Boats take you to/from Camogli and around the Portofino Peninsula to Portofino, Santa Margherita and Rapallo.

Huge modern Genoa, a transportation hub and Italy’s largest harbour, sits in about the middle of the Riviera coast. It has an old quarter in a maze of dim streets, some fine art collections, and some Renaissance and Art Nouveau buildings.

From Genoa west to the French border, you find working harbour cities like Savona, popular resort towns like Diano Marina, and regal, older resorts with aristocratic villas, grand hotels, casinos and magnificent gardens like San Remo.

Cooking school tours in the Riviera

Cuisine

The healthy cuisine focuses on seafood, vegetables and herbs washed down with local white wine and some red wine. Lemon trees grow in abundance. Olive oil is delicate and lighter than Tuscan oil due to moderating influences of the sea, and goes well with the cuisine.

Some typical dishes: all kinds of focaccia, the famous linguine al pesto made of basil, pine nuts, olive oil and garlic, a variety of savory vegetable pies of artichokes, mixed greens, or whatever is in season, white fish with white wine, sprigs of majoram, tarragon or rosemary, garlic and olives, grilled or lightly fried mixture of squid, prawns, octopus, and anchovies, and sweet Genoa cake which resembles panettone.

For cooking school tours in the Riviera region please see www.italycookingschools.com/rivieralist.html