Every city in Liguria | Italia Magnifica

Every city in Liguria

From the capital to the smallest borghi.

GenoaThe capitalLiguria's proud capital and a former maritime republic, where the labyrinth of the medieval caruggi opens onto the gilded Palazzi dei Rolli. Genoa gave the world Columbus, pesto and Renzo Piano's reborn old port, now crowned by Europe's largest aquarium.
AlassioA sunny resort on the Riviera di Ponente, famous for its long curve of fine sandy beach and the seafront Muretto, a wall studded with the signed ceramic tiles of visiting celebrities.
BordigheraA mild winter resort near the French border on the Riviera dei Fiori, with date palms, an old hilltop town and a long seaside promenade. Claude Monet spent months here in 1884, painting its luminous gardens and coast.
CamogliA former seafaring town on the Riviera di Levante, its tall pastel houses, some painted with trompe-l'oeil facades, lining a curved fishing harbor. From here boats reach the abbey of San Fruttuoso, hidden in a cove accessible only by sea.
CornigliaThe quietest of the Cinque Terre and the only one set high on a headland rather than at the water's edge. Reached by a long brick stairway or a shuttle from its station, it is ringed by terraced vineyards above the sea.
Finale LigureA Riviera di Ponente town with sandy beaches and a well-kept medieval quarter, Finalborgo, ringed by walls inland. The pale limestone cliffs above it have made Finale one of Europe's great rock-climbing destinations.
ImperiaA provincial capital on the Riviera di Ponente, formed in 1923 from two towns, Oneglia and Porto Maurizio, that still face each other across a river mouth. It sits at the heart of Liguria's olive-oil country.
La SpeziaA naval city at the head of its own gulf, the eastern gateway to the Cinque Terre. Trains and ferries leave from here for the five villages, while its waterfront and naval museum trace a long history as one of Italy's great military ports.
LericiA pretty harbor town on the Gulf of La Spezia, the bay the Romantics christened the Gulf of Poets. A Pisan-Genoese castle commands the promontory above the shore where Shelley spent his final summer.
ManarolaPerhaps the most photographed of the Cinque Terre, its tower houses tumbling down a rock spur to a small cove. The vineyards above produce Sciacchetrà, the sweet straw wine that has been made on these terraces for centuries.
Monterosso al MareThe largest and most northerly of the Cinque Terre, and the only one with a true sandy beach. A medieval tower divides its old quarter from the seaside resort, and lemon trees fill the gardens between them.
PortofinoThe most glamorous harbor in Italy, a half-moon of pastel houses and bobbing yachts at the tip of a wooded headland. Castello Brown looks down on the piazzetta, and footpaths thread the cypress-clad promontory to the lighthouse.
PortovenereA jewel at the southern tip of the Gulf of Poets, its row of tall striped houses facing the island of Palmaria. The church of San Pietro stands on the rocky point beside Byron's Grotto, the sea cave that inspired the poet.
RapalloA genteel resort town on the Gulf of Tigullio, with a seafront promenade, a sixteenth-century castle set out in the water and a cable car climbing to the sanctuary of Montallegro above the bay.
RiomaggioreThe first of the Cinque Terre coming from La Spezia, its tower houses stacked steeply along a ravine that drops to a tiny marina. From here the cliffside Via dell'Amore once led to neighboring Manarola.
San RemoThe grande dame of the Riviera dei Fiori, an old aristocratic winter resort with a Liberty-era casino and a Belle Époque seafront. Each February San Remo hosts Italy's most famous song festival, and its flower markets perfume the coast.
Santa Margherita LigureAn elegant Belle Époque resort on the Gulf of Tigullio, with palm-lined gardens, a small fishing harbor and pastel villas above the bay. It makes a graceful base for reaching nearby Portofino along the coast.
SavonaA working port city and provincial capital on the Riviera di Ponente, watched over by the seafront Priamar fortress. Long a rival of Genoa, Savona was the home city of two Renaissance popes from the della Rovere family.
VernazzaMany call Vernazza the loveliest of the Cinque Terre, its tight piazza opening directly onto a natural harbor of fishing boats. A Doria watchtower guards the cove, and tall pastel houses climb the ravine behind it.
Cinque TerreFive fishing villages strung along a steep stretch of the Riviera di Levante, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore cling to the cliffs above terraced vineyards, linked by coastal footpaths and a single railway line.