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La Pigna
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…
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San Remo
Fifty kilometres east of Europe's premier gambling capital lies San Remo, Italy's own Monte Carlo, a sun-dappled Mediterranean resort with a casino, a clutch of ostentatious villas and lashings of Riviera-style grandeur. Beaches aside, San Remo (spelled Sanremo in Italian) hides the atmospheric lanes of a medieval district called La Pigna.
Known colloquially as the City of Flowers for its colourful summer blooms, San Remo also stages an annual music festival (the supposed inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest) and the world's longest professional one-day cycling race, the 298km Milan–San Remo classic.
During the mid-19th century the city became a magnet for regal European exiles, such as Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Tsarina Maria Aleksandrovna, who favoured the town's balmy winters. Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel maintained a villa here, and an onion-domed Russian Orthodox church reminiscent of Moscow's St Basil's Cathedral still turns heads down by the seafront.
Explore San Remo
- LLa Pigna
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…
- Bussana Vecchia
Seven kilometres northeast of San Remo lies an intriguing artists' colony. On Ash Wednesday 1887, an earthquake destroyed the village of Bussana Vecchia…
- CChiesa Russa Ortodossa
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…
- IIl Casinò Municipale
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…
- MMuseo Civico
Housed in a 15th-century palazzo, several rooms in this museum, some with fine frescoed ceilings, display local prehistoric and Roman archaeological finds…
- VVilla Nobel
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…
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout San Remo.
See
La Pigna
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…
See
Bussana Vecchia
Seven kilometres northeast of San Remo lies an intriguing artists' colony. On Ash Wednesday 1887, an earthquake destroyed the village of Bussana Vecchia…
See
Chiesa Russa Ortodossa
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…
See
Il Casinò Municipale
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…
See
Museo Civico
Housed in a 15th-century palazzo, several rooms in this museum, some with fine frescoed ceilings, display local prehistoric and Roman archaeological finds…
See
Villa Nobel
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…
Guidebooks
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