HELP! Italian Riviera
 

Hello,

My husband and I recently returned from a wonderful trip to the Italian Riviera. We stayed in Rapallo at the Hotel Italia. We really enjoyed the ease of visiting the surrounding towns via trains/ferries. We went from Portofino to CT and lots of towns in between. Now we are considering going back to visit the other side. Can anyone give me information on towns worth visiting from Genoa to San Remo? We prefer to stay in one place and travel by train/ferry. Any suggestions for a nice town to use as a base? Hotel suggestions? We do like the beach.

Thank you for your help!

Glad Pierro is able to give you some suggestions and another perspective but I have to respectfully disagree. Aside from the Hanbury Gardens (which I would put in the interesting but not great category) I've never been able to find anything on the Riviera di Ponente to equal the beauty of the Riviera Levante (left and right of Genoa respectively when looking at a map). Indeed my favorite stop beyond Genoa is Menton, in France, not in Italy. We've tried Bordighera twice and even stayed there once to no avail. Found San Remo to be underwhelming. Sorry to sound so negative but my best advice to you would be to return to the places that you liked so well on the "right" side of Genoa. We have often and have never been disappointed.

I totally agree with Julie---as I often do.

Thank you so much for your responses. I was wondering why there wasn't as much information on the Riviera di Ponente. Maybe we should consider going somewhere else. We prefer to go places we haven't been to...we love Italy and really loved the Riviera Levante!

Anyone else have something to add?

Agree wholeheartedly about San Remo. Very underwhelming, with a faded, shabby air about it.

Have you done the lakes yet.
Look at both Bellagio on Lago Como and Stresa on Lago Maggiore. Both deserve at least 3 days each--and you can add Lugano to the mix.

In general, I agree that the Riviera di Ponente is underwhelming - with the exception of Albenga, which is certainly worth seeing. And with all this talk about Ponente and Levante, don't forget Genova itself - a very interesting and sorely underrated city with quite a few just excellent sights.

Thank you for all your input, very helpful. Now I understand why there isn't much information on the area. I would hate to go there and be disappointed. You really don't know what a place is like until you have been there, that's why I really appreciate your opinions. I'm so glad I asked.

Bob, we haven't been to the lakes yet except one night on Lake Como while on a tour 11 years ago. I will look into that...THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!