The Italian Riviera — Cinque Terre's villages, Portofino's harbor, pesto where it was invented, and cliff-hugging trains.
Explore → Get Early AccessTrail-and-terrace weather
Riviera pacing rewards patience
The coastal line threads every town
Basil was practically invented here
Liguria is the Italian Riviera: Cinque Terre drama, Portofino polish, Genoa's gritty grandeur, and pesto eaten where basil grows best. Mountains dive into the sea here, and towns cling on gorgeously.
Genoa ruled these coasts as a maritime republic that banked half of Europe — Columbus was Genoese — and its bankers financed empires while its sailors made the Mediterranean a Ligurian lake.
Pesto alla genovese is properly made in a marble mortar, and Liguria's DOP basil is grown for tenderness, not size. The region also gave the world focaccia — locals dunk it in cappuccino at breakfast, and they're right.
Fifteen kilometers of Adriatic beach, Fellini's hometown, and a 2,000-year-old Roman heart most beach crowds never…
A cathedral in the sky — Umbria's cliff-top city over a labyrinth of Etruscan caves.
The food valley — Parma's ham, Modena's balsamic, Bologna's kitchens, and Italy's fastest cars in between.
The toe of the boot — Tropea's cliffside beaches, spicy 'nduja, Greek ruins, and an Italy…
The heel — trulli villages, baroque Lecce, burrata at the source, and a coastline of white…
Italy's green heart — Assisi's basilica, hill towns without the Tuscan crowds, truffles, and slow perfect…
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