5 days in Liguria
Oct 24th, 2011, 05:14 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
5 days in Liguria
After the not very good summer we've had in the North of England, DW & I decided to take a late, short break to somewhere where the sun might still be shining in Europe. We had 5 days to play with and after studying a map of one of our favourite countries, Italy, we decided to take a chance and head for Northern Italy near Genoa. It's an area that we haven't spent any amount of time in, apart from an overnight in Pisa (yes I know it's in Tuscany) so seemed like a good choice. We flew Ryanair from Leeds to Pisa, as we couldn't get a flight to Genoa from the North without flying via London, which would waste a full day in travelling time.
So last Tuesday we left LBA at 9:10am, except that we didn't. Ryanair's flight was delayed with some excuse about air traffic over Switzerland and we didn't leave till just on 10:00am. However a couple of hours later had us in Pisa, the luggage came through fairly quickly and we looked for the hire car desks. Unusually these aren't situated in the concourse and they are in a separate building about a quarter of a mile away via shuttle bus. We booked an Avis car and got dealt with fairly quickly and off in a small Lancia, with or sat-nav (GPS) plugged in and working.
We got onto the autostrada more or less straight away from the airport and headed for Santa Margherita Lugure, about 20 miles before Genoa and around 90 miles from Pisa Airport. (Now you see why we'd have preferred Genoa airport). Apart from a short stop at a service area for a comfort break and a drink, we left the autostrada at Rapallo and then had a short 3 or 4K drive to Sanata Margherita and our hotel, which is on the left a couple of hundred yards before the start of the promenade.
http://www.metropole.it/en.html?id=
It has its own smallish car park at a cost of €12 per day, but during the next 5 days, we didn't have a problem parking. First impressions as we went in were of a good standard 4* hotel, very clean and shiny and friendly staff too. We checked in and went up to our room on the 4th floor (UK and Italian 4th-US fifth). It was a reasonable size with a sea view, small sitting area and a good size bathroom. Plenty of space for clothes too.
We unpacked and went for a walk along the sea front around a horse shoe shaped bay, with shops, restaurants and bars on the land side of the road. The weather was a bit showery and we dodged from blind to blind as we moved round the bay, stopping for a Latte Macchiato at the far end. We managed to get back to the hotel without more rain by around 5:30 and went up to read for a little while then get ready to go out for dinner. I'd spotted a couple of restaurants as we'd walked that were mentioned on TA, but you never know with TA!
We went out around 8pm, the rain had stopped and we ended up in a place called La Cambusa, about half way round the bay:
http://www.ristorantelacambusa.net/
DW started with Mussels Marinara and I had the seafood cocktail. Both were good and followed by bream for DW and a mixed grill of fish for me. They were OK--nuff said. We had a cheeky little rose wine, which was very good and paid around €85. As is our habit, we stopped on the way back to the hotel for coffee and grappa at a small bar. It's been a long day, as we were up at 5am to get to the airport, so we were quite tired and the walk back to the hotel helped us get a good night's sleep.
I'll do the rest of the trip later...
So last Tuesday we left LBA at 9:10am, except that we didn't. Ryanair's flight was delayed with some excuse about air traffic over Switzerland and we didn't leave till just on 10:00am. However a couple of hours later had us in Pisa, the luggage came through fairly quickly and we looked for the hire car desks. Unusually these aren't situated in the concourse and they are in a separate building about a quarter of a mile away via shuttle bus. We booked an Avis car and got dealt with fairly quickly and off in a small Lancia, with or sat-nav (GPS) plugged in and working.
We got onto the autostrada more or less straight away from the airport and headed for Santa Margherita Lugure, about 20 miles before Genoa and around 90 miles from Pisa Airport. (Now you see why we'd have preferred Genoa airport). Apart from a short stop at a service area for a comfort break and a drink, we left the autostrada at Rapallo and then had a short 3 or 4K drive to Sanata Margherita and our hotel, which is on the left a couple of hundred yards before the start of the promenade.
http://www.metropole.it/en.html?id=
It has its own smallish car park at a cost of €12 per day, but during the next 5 days, we didn't have a problem parking. First impressions as we went in were of a good standard 4* hotel, very clean and shiny and friendly staff too. We checked in and went up to our room on the 4th floor (UK and Italian 4th-US fifth). It was a reasonable size with a sea view, small sitting area and a good size bathroom. Plenty of space for clothes too.
We unpacked and went for a walk along the sea front around a horse shoe shaped bay, with shops, restaurants and bars on the land side of the road. The weather was a bit showery and we dodged from blind to blind as we moved round the bay, stopping for a Latte Macchiato at the far end. We managed to get back to the hotel without more rain by around 5:30 and went up to read for a little while then get ready to go out for dinner. I'd spotted a couple of restaurants as we'd walked that were mentioned on TA, but you never know with TA!
We went out around 8pm, the rain had stopped and we ended up in a place called La Cambusa, about half way round the bay:
http://www.ristorantelacambusa.net/
DW started with Mussels Marinara and I had the seafood cocktail. Both were good and followed by bream for DW and a mixed grill of fish for me. They were OK--nuff said. We had a cheeky little rose wine, which was very good and paid around €85. As is our habit, we stopped on the way back to the hotel for coffee and grappa at a small bar. It's been a long day, as we were up at 5am to get to the airport, so we were quite tired and the walk back to the hotel helped us get a good night's sleep.
I'll do the rest of the trip later...
Oct 24th, 2011, 08:54 AM
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
OK, Wednesday 19th. October, day two. We were up around 9am and opened the curtains to see a sunny day! We could see two cruise ships across the bay, no doubt moored for Portofino just 3 miles away round the coast. Down for breakfast at 9:30, taken in the hotel's restaurant, also used clearly for the other two meals of the day. It's a nice, large room and we're seated at a window table with a view of the garden and the sea. Breakfast is buffet style, with cereals, cheese, ham, juices and sweet pastries. There's also scrambled egg and what we call streaky bacon, thinly sliced. It all looks very good and as I don't normally eat lunch anyway, will take me through to dinner,(with an occasional coffee in between).
Although Santa Margherita (SML) is not a big community, little more than a small town bordering on large village size really, we decide to explore the place properly and leave the car in the car park. We are down into the town within a two minute walk. There are lots of good quality shops selling all sorts of things from clothes to food and there are small back streets and alleyways to wander down and churches to visit. I do recommend a good look round the place if you're in the area. The church at the back of the main square is very ornate and worth seeing and is just over 350 years old. It was built on a previously hallowed site as most of these churches are all over Europe. We take the time to walk right the bay and out onto the end of breakwater, past a couple of breathtaking boats sporting Cayman Island flags! The day is warm and sunny and my legs get an airing in shorts. DW remarked that no-one had run away screaming yet, much to her surprise.
There's an old castle half way round the bay that's worth a visit and although it won't take long to see, it dates from 1550. It hasn't taken that long to write this, but all this did take up to 5pm, including coffee breaks and we then headed back for showers etc. Whilst out, we'd found a couple more places to eat that were recommended on various websites and we walked back to one called La Lampara up a side street from the bay.
It's a small room with maybe only 30 covers, traditional decor, wood and tiled floor, but cosy and welcoming. Again this is mainly a fish restaurant and DW had large prawns and I had a mixed seafood starter. Very good and well presented. We had the house dry white wine, which was excellent and came from local vineyards we were told. Main courses were fillet of sole for DW and I had the "fish of the day". I have no idea what is was, but it was excellent. I asked for the name, but no translation was available. The bill was a reasonable €75 and I can recommend La Lampara if you go to SML.
Across the narrow street is another restaurant that we decided that we have to try, called Il Faro. I can't find a website for either of these, but they are on TA and local sites. We then had our usual slow wander back, via coffee and liquers. I do like grappa!
I'll finish off tomorrow.
Although Santa Margherita (SML) is not a big community, little more than a small town bordering on large village size really, we decide to explore the place properly and leave the car in the car park. We are down into the town within a two minute walk. There are lots of good quality shops selling all sorts of things from clothes to food and there are small back streets and alleyways to wander down and churches to visit. I do recommend a good look round the place if you're in the area. The church at the back of the main square is very ornate and worth seeing and is just over 350 years old. It was built on a previously hallowed site as most of these churches are all over Europe. We take the time to walk right the bay and out onto the end of breakwater, past a couple of breathtaking boats sporting Cayman Island flags! The day is warm and sunny and my legs get an airing in shorts. DW remarked that no-one had run away screaming yet, much to her surprise.
There's an old castle half way round the bay that's worth a visit and although it won't take long to see, it dates from 1550. It hasn't taken that long to write this, but all this did take up to 5pm, including coffee breaks and we then headed back for showers etc. Whilst out, we'd found a couple more places to eat that were recommended on various websites and we walked back to one called La Lampara up a side street from the bay.
It's a small room with maybe only 30 covers, traditional decor, wood and tiled floor, but cosy and welcoming. Again this is mainly a fish restaurant and DW had large prawns and I had a mixed seafood starter. Very good and well presented. We had the house dry white wine, which was excellent and came from local vineyards we were told. Main courses were fillet of sole for DW and I had the "fish of the day". I have no idea what is was, but it was excellent. I asked for the name, but no translation was available. The bill was a reasonable €75 and I can recommend La Lampara if you go to SML.
Across the narrow street is another restaurant that we decided that we have to try, called Il Faro. I can't find a website for either of these, but they are on TA and local sites. We then had our usual slow wander back, via coffee and liquers. I do like grappa!
I'll finish off tomorrow.
Oct 25th, 2011, 12:34 AM
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
annhig..SML seems a really good spot but only for the peninsula of Portofino. It's quite a small area and OK for a short break such as ours, but I don't think that SML would have kept us entertained for a week or more. We aren't much for sitting on a beach or round a pool and prefer to get out and do/see things and this is an area with limited attractions in that regard. It's very pretty scenically, like CT but I don't think we'd return there. There are lots of pretty places still to do.
In the height of summer this smallish area would I think, get very busy with traffic and if you look to stay outside of this small corner of Italy or in CT, then you need to be the sort of people who just want to chill. We're not much into walking for the sake of it. I'll finish the TR later today.
In the height of summer this smallish area would I think, get very busy with traffic and if you look to stay outside of this small corner of Italy or in CT, then you need to be the sort of people who just want to chill. We're not much into walking for the sake of it. I'll finish the TR later today.
Oct 25th, 2011, 05:40 AM
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thursday day 4..We've decided to go to Portofino today and have a look at what is quite a tourist magnet. The receptionist in the hotel kindly warned us not to take the car as there is very little parking and what there is, is at an exorbitant rate (her words). The bus goes from the small main square just down the road, so at a cost of 3€ return each, it seems like a good deal. She provided us with a timetable and we went for the 10:35 bus.
The day is fine and sunny again. We're told that lots of people walk the road between SML and Portofino, about 5K and as the bus twisted and turned its way, there were indeed quite a few doing just that. The bus pulls in after about 15 minutes of very narrow road at the stop at the top of the main street, down which we wander towards the harbour. The street is lined with high end fashion shops, Gucci etc. and some tacky souvenir shops, a few pizzerias and a bar or two.
At the end of the street there is a square which opens up with cafes etc round it, some to the right but mainly to the left. Here also lies the small harbour, with a concrete quay curling round to the right past the restaurants, topped with a sculpture exhibition in the small almost vertical park. We had a look at it but were a bit nonplussed by the plastic lifesize rhinocerous suspended from a boat sling on top of a wall.
Round to the left are more shops, restaurants and bars which curl away in a left handed curve for 150 yards or so to the coastguard station at the end. The sea is calm and we sit and watch the boats bob about whilst taking our first ex hotel coffee of the day. There are several really expensive hotels (Hotel Splendido Mare etc) and restaurants round the square and down the quayside jostling for position with the clothes shops and a few side streets, steep on the right, not so bad on the left, with a few more shops and smaller hotels.
After about an hour and a half we've seen it all, had coffee and aren't quite sure why the place is "must see". Yes it's scenic and surrounded by steep cliffs but there are many other places much prettier and well set than Portofino. Maybe it's one of those places that are famous for being famous that get patronised by the glitterati of the world. We just managed to catch the 12:30 bus back to SML.
We got off the bus at the far end of the harbour from the hotel and strolled around, stopping for coffee and a panini on the way. Back to the hotel for a read on the balcony and a quick siesta before our evening meal. We've decided to drive up to Rapallo for dinner, only about 3K away up the coast and see the town and search out a restaurant. We get there about 7pm and the town is busy with shoppers and a few tourists. All the provision and clothes shops, cafes and bars are open and the restaurants are just opening too. Parking is pay and display till 8pm at this time of the year, so it costs us €1.50 for the first hour and free thereafter.
Rapallo is a busy and quite nice little place, or at least the centre is. The outskirts of the town are the usual apartment buildings. We sat in a small cafe and had a Campari and soda each and people watched for a while. Italy has Campari and soda in a ready mixed small bottle, but I prefer the Campari Bitters that you get in a normal 70cl bottle and then add soda water. In a small side street from the main street we'd seen a restaurant called Vecchia Rapallo that looked ( as much as you can tell by looking)pretty good:
http://www.ristorantevecchiarapallo.com/
It turned out to be a good choice, starters of prawns for me and a hot cheese covered fish starter for DW. Main courses; a seafood risotto and a seafood platter. A decent wine and coffee. Total around €100, but that included pre dinner drinks and wine, so not too bad and probably worth the visit. The food was well cooked, presented and tasted very good. Back to the hotel after a post prandial wander around the town. A cable car goes up to the 16th-century sanctuary of Montallegro during the day.
Friday, day 4..Warm and sunny, shorts again. We felt that we should see more of the area that we were in, so decided to do a round peninsula trip today, turning left out of the hotel then right to follow the higher road along the coast towards San Fruttuoso. You can't get in the village except by a walk downhill (then back uphill-very steep) which we were told takes about 3 hours each way. We didn't have the time to do a hike like this, so settled for views from the main car park and then pressed on towards San Rocco and then Camogli.
There is an Italian restaurant in Manchester called San Rocco and we wondered if they were from here, but I'd guess that there are quite a few San Rocco's in Italy. The scenery is spectacular along the way and it's a very pleasant drive into Camogli. This a pleasant little place with a school for the area by the car park, so there must be a fair size community hereabouts. You leave the car in the pay and display and walk into the sea front area through a very narrow street which goes through an archway and opens up onto the promenade. They have a fish festival here each year:
http://www.nozio.com/europe/italy/li...des/events.htm
and the two old 12 foot high frying pans are leaning away the wall near the car park. It's a very nice place to take the trouble to see, with a black sand and pebble beach. Again I'd think that it's very busy here in the height of the season, but this suits us just fine. Coffee called for and we people watch and sea watch for a while.
Leaving Camogli takes us over the mountains through small villages and we keep left to come back down into Rapallo for a stop and to see the place again in full daylight. It is busy again but quite attractive in its own way and we spend an hour or two walking around. It's bigger than we thought last night, but still a small town sized place. Back then South to the hotel at around 5pm. I mentioned earlier that we wanted to try the restaurant called Il Faro opposite La Lampara, so that was the destination for dinner.
Like La Lampara, it's small but traditional. Wood panelling, tiled floor and clearly run by a couple in their 50's. There is only one other table in use, which surprised us for a Friday night and we hoped that it didn't indicate that local people didn't use it. However, when we'd seen it the other night, it was busy with what looked like a family birthday party, so that did encourage us. I started with a penne dish and DW had mussels again. These came opened and she was offered and accepted optional Parmigiano. She was then very quiet for the first course, always a good sign. Both starters were excellent, my pasta being cooked al dente, just right for me. I'd opted for a fillet steak, as I'd had a much more fish in the time here than I'd usually have. DW loves fish and chose a filleted flat fish,not sole (translation fell down again) but again she was very quiet. The side dish of vegetables, bolied potatoes and green beans was drizzled with an EV Olive oil, really good.
We actually had a dessert tonight, she with fresh berries me with a gelato. The bill was around 85€ again and well worth it. There's no website I can find, but it is listed on various other travel sites. What a great meal to end the week.
Day 5--Saturday. Our flight home isn't until 5:15pm with Jet2. We'd chosen to fly out with Ryanair and back with Jet2 to avoid a too early start at either end of the week. I set the sat-nav and said "No" when it asked if I wanted to use toll roads. The autostrada had cost about 13€ on the way out to SML. The road once through Rapallo becomes the SS1 (some maps show this as SP1, but the roadsigns say SS1) and we followed it leisurely down towards Pisa airport. We passed through a number of small places, some a bit larger than others like Chiavari and Sestri Levante then up over the Passo di Bracco at 2000 feet or so above the sea. It's gorgeous scenery, with pine woods and small hamlets, some no more than a couple of houses as it winds over the mountain and then down again to the sea. It's spectacular and well worth the drive. There are a number of videos of the pass, which gets snowed in, in winter on you tube. You'll get a flavour of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O79WxKpjv2c
Turn the volume down first! Still following the SS1, we travelled through La Spezia and then came down to sea level along a really long stretch of straight road lined with hotels and odd cafe just before Viareggio. We stopped for a drink and a sandwich before following the road back to Pisa airport. Lucca lies just the East from this stretch of highway.
Returned the car and into the terminal by 3pm, a short wait and the check in opened.
Took off right on time and we were landin back in Leeds for 6:35pm UK time and back home in Lancashire for 8:15pm. A good break and we can recommend the area, the hotel and restaurants to all. Thanks for reading.
The day is fine and sunny again. We're told that lots of people walk the road between SML and Portofino, about 5K and as the bus twisted and turned its way, there were indeed quite a few doing just that. The bus pulls in after about 15 minutes of very narrow road at the stop at the top of the main street, down which we wander towards the harbour. The street is lined with high end fashion shops, Gucci etc. and some tacky souvenir shops, a few pizzerias and a bar or two.
At the end of the street there is a square which opens up with cafes etc round it, some to the right but mainly to the left. Here also lies the small harbour, with a concrete quay curling round to the right past the restaurants, topped with a sculpture exhibition in the small almost vertical park. We had a look at it but were a bit nonplussed by the plastic lifesize rhinocerous suspended from a boat sling on top of a wall.
Round to the left are more shops, restaurants and bars which curl away in a left handed curve for 150 yards or so to the coastguard station at the end. The sea is calm and we sit and watch the boats bob about whilst taking our first ex hotel coffee of the day. There are several really expensive hotels (Hotel Splendido Mare etc) and restaurants round the square and down the quayside jostling for position with the clothes shops and a few side streets, steep on the right, not so bad on the left, with a few more shops and smaller hotels.
After about an hour and a half we've seen it all, had coffee and aren't quite sure why the place is "must see". Yes it's scenic and surrounded by steep cliffs but there are many other places much prettier and well set than Portofino. Maybe it's one of those places that are famous for being famous that get patronised by the glitterati of the world. We just managed to catch the 12:30 bus back to SML.
We got off the bus at the far end of the harbour from the hotel and strolled around, stopping for coffee and a panini on the way. Back to the hotel for a read on the balcony and a quick siesta before our evening meal. We've decided to drive up to Rapallo for dinner, only about 3K away up the coast and see the town and search out a restaurant. We get there about 7pm and the town is busy with shoppers and a few tourists. All the provision and clothes shops, cafes and bars are open and the restaurants are just opening too. Parking is pay and display till 8pm at this time of the year, so it costs us €1.50 for the first hour and free thereafter.
Rapallo is a busy and quite nice little place, or at least the centre is. The outskirts of the town are the usual apartment buildings. We sat in a small cafe and had a Campari and soda each and people watched for a while. Italy has Campari and soda in a ready mixed small bottle, but I prefer the Campari Bitters that you get in a normal 70cl bottle and then add soda water. In a small side street from the main street we'd seen a restaurant called Vecchia Rapallo that looked ( as much as you can tell by looking)pretty good:
http://www.ristorantevecchiarapallo.com/
It turned out to be a good choice, starters of prawns for me and a hot cheese covered fish starter for DW. Main courses; a seafood risotto and a seafood platter. A decent wine and coffee. Total around €100, but that included pre dinner drinks and wine, so not too bad and probably worth the visit. The food was well cooked, presented and tasted very good. Back to the hotel after a post prandial wander around the town. A cable car goes up to the 16th-century sanctuary of Montallegro during the day.
Friday, day 4..Warm and sunny, shorts again. We felt that we should see more of the area that we were in, so decided to do a round peninsula trip today, turning left out of the hotel then right to follow the higher road along the coast towards San Fruttuoso. You can't get in the village except by a walk downhill (then back uphill-very steep) which we were told takes about 3 hours each way. We didn't have the time to do a hike like this, so settled for views from the main car park and then pressed on towards San Rocco and then Camogli.
There is an Italian restaurant in Manchester called San Rocco and we wondered if they were from here, but I'd guess that there are quite a few San Rocco's in Italy. The scenery is spectacular along the way and it's a very pleasant drive into Camogli. This a pleasant little place with a school for the area by the car park, so there must be a fair size community hereabouts. You leave the car in the pay and display and walk into the sea front area through a very narrow street which goes through an archway and opens up onto the promenade. They have a fish festival here each year:
http://www.nozio.com/europe/italy/li...des/events.htm
and the two old 12 foot high frying pans are leaning away the wall near the car park. It's a very nice place to take the trouble to see, with a black sand and pebble beach. Again I'd think that it's very busy here in the height of the season, but this suits us just fine. Coffee called for and we people watch and sea watch for a while.
Leaving Camogli takes us over the mountains through small villages and we keep left to come back down into Rapallo for a stop and to see the place again in full daylight. It is busy again but quite attractive in its own way and we spend an hour or two walking around. It's bigger than we thought last night, but still a small town sized place. Back then South to the hotel at around 5pm. I mentioned earlier that we wanted to try the restaurant called Il Faro opposite La Lampara, so that was the destination for dinner.
Like La Lampara, it's small but traditional. Wood panelling, tiled floor and clearly run by a couple in their 50's. There is only one other table in use, which surprised us for a Friday night and we hoped that it didn't indicate that local people didn't use it. However, when we'd seen it the other night, it was busy with what looked like a family birthday party, so that did encourage us. I started with a penne dish and DW had mussels again. These came opened and she was offered and accepted optional Parmigiano. She was then very quiet for the first course, always a good sign. Both starters were excellent, my pasta being cooked al dente, just right for me. I'd opted for a fillet steak, as I'd had a much more fish in the time here than I'd usually have. DW loves fish and chose a filleted flat fish,not sole (translation fell down again) but again she was very quiet. The side dish of vegetables, bolied potatoes and green beans was drizzled with an EV Olive oil, really good.
We actually had a dessert tonight, she with fresh berries me with a gelato. The bill was around 85€ again and well worth it. There's no website I can find, but it is listed on various other travel sites. What a great meal to end the week.
Day 5--Saturday. Our flight home isn't until 5:15pm with Jet2. We'd chosen to fly out with Ryanair and back with Jet2 to avoid a too early start at either end of the week. I set the sat-nav and said "No" when it asked if I wanted to use toll roads. The autostrada had cost about 13€ on the way out to SML. The road once through Rapallo becomes the SS1 (some maps show this as SP1, but the roadsigns say SS1) and we followed it leisurely down towards Pisa airport. We passed through a number of small places, some a bit larger than others like Chiavari and Sestri Levante then up over the Passo di Bracco at 2000 feet or so above the sea. It's gorgeous scenery, with pine woods and small hamlets, some no more than a couple of houses as it winds over the mountain and then down again to the sea. It's spectacular and well worth the drive. There are a number of videos of the pass, which gets snowed in, in winter on you tube. You'll get a flavour of it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O79WxKpjv2c
Turn the volume down first! Still following the SS1, we travelled through La Spezia and then came down to sea level along a really long stretch of straight road lined with hotels and odd cafe just before Viareggio. We stopped for a drink and a sandwich before following the road back to Pisa airport. Lucca lies just the East from this stretch of highway.
Returned the car and into the terminal by 3pm, a short wait and the check in opened.
Took off right on time and we were landin back in Leeds for 6:35pm UK time and back home in Lancashire for 8:15pm. A good break and we can recommend the area, the hotel and restaurants to all. Thanks for reading.
Oct 25th, 2011, 11:40 AM
#14
thanks for all of that, lifeman. you packed a lot in without overkill. I think that 5 -6 days is a nice length of trip if you are going to base yourself in one place like you did. where are you going next?
Oct 26th, 2011, 12:47 AM
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not sure yet Ann, nothing booked this side of Christmas. However we have a big wedding anniversary next year, so that's in the thinking at the moment. We'll maybe have a break in February time if the weather is any good.
Oct 26th, 2011, 03:51 AM
#16
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,422
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Lifeman, I hope you mind my adding to your lovely trip report an update on conditions in the Italian Riviera following massive flooding in le Cinque Terre on Oct 26.
For some period of time, roads and train service between Santa Margherita Ligure and Pisa (or Genova and Pisa), going in both directions, will be significantly disrupted because of the mudslides.
The le Cinque Terre towns are inaccessible, and the hillsides and hiking trails are perilously unstable due to the threat of continued rain during the next few months, the traditional rainy season.
People considering traveling to le Cinque Terre and the Riviera by train or car should make an effort to ascertain the on-the-ground situation before going. The TripAdvisor message boards for the Italian Riviera and le Cinque Terre have residents of the towns who post.
The Trenitalia website contains information about train travel disruptions.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-off-towns.cfm
For some period of time, roads and train service between Santa Margherita Ligure and Pisa (or Genova and Pisa), going in both directions, will be significantly disrupted because of the mudslides.
The le Cinque Terre towns are inaccessible, and the hillsides and hiking trails are perilously unstable due to the threat of continued rain during the next few months, the traditional rainy season.
People considering traveling to le Cinque Terre and the Riviera by train or car should make an effort to ascertain the on-the-ground situation before going. The TripAdvisor message boards for the Italian Riviera and le Cinque Terre have residents of the towns who post.
The Trenitalia website contains information about train travel disruptions.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-off-towns.cfm
Oct 26th, 2011, 03:57 AM
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
zeppole, not at all. It's hard to believe that we drove through this region 4 days ago in lovely weather amid glorious scenery.
Our thoughts should be with the people affected on so many fronts; housing, livelihood and health to name but a few.
Our thoughts should be with the people affected on so many fronts; housing, livelihood and health to name but a few.
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
SandraJoy
Africa & the Middle East
9
Nov 6th, 2009 10:14 AM
