Must see attractions in Riviera di Ponente

Established in 1867 by English businessman Sir Thomas Hanbury, the 18-hectare Villa Hanbury estate is planted with 5800 botanical species from five…

Set amid two adjoining palazzi, Savona's premier art collection features an impressive collection of paintings dating all the way back to the 14th century…

San Remo's little-visited old town is a labyrinth of quiet, twisting lanes set on a hilltop just above the bustling centre. Get there by taking Via Santo…

Seven kilometres northeast of San Remo lies an intriguing artists' colony. On Ash Wednesday 1887, an earthquake destroyed the village of Bussana Vecchia…

The small village on the hill is upper Ventimiglia, home to one of the largest historic centres in the Italian Riviera. Medieval walls surround the lofty…

Built for the Russian community that followed Tsarina Maria Aleksandrovna (wife of Tsar Alexander II) to San Remo in 1906, the Russian Orthodox church of…

Among Savona's treasures to survive destruction by Genoese forces in the 16th century is the lumbering Fortezza del Priamàr. This imposing fortress, which…

San Remo's belle époque casino, one of only four in Italy, was dealing cards when Vegas was still a waterhole in the desert. The building dates from 1905…

Housed in a 15th-century palazzo, several rooms in this museum, some with fine frescoed ceilings, display local prehistoric and Roman archaeological finds…

Dating from the 1480s, Savona's Sistine Chapel (like the one in Rome) was created by Pope Sixtus IV. Though far less famous than its Roman counterpoint,…

Ventimiglia is best known for its huge Friday market when hundreds of stalls sell food, clothes, leather goods, homewares, baskets and everything else…

The Moorish Villa Nobel houses a museum dedicated to Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who established the Nobel Prize while living here. At the time of…

A must-see when exploring the historic centre, this cathedral has original 13th-century elements, including a portal with an acute arch, Romanesque…

Part of the imposing Fortezza del Priamàr, this small museum houses a limited but interesting collection of local archaeological finds.

Brave Imperia's traffic for this museum where a history of Italy's favourite oil is on display, including some ancient amphora and repro oil mills. There…

Sandwiched between the road and the railway line on the eastern edge of town, these Roman ruins bear testimony to Ventimiglia's Roman romance and include…

Among Savona's treasures to survive destruction by Genoese forces in the 16th century is the Cattedrale di Nostra Signora Assunta. It's worth a look for…