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. It remained a ghost town until the 1960s, when artists and counterculture devotees moved in and began rebuilding the ruins using the original stones from the rubble. A thriving community of international artists remains in residence today. To get there, take a bus to Bussana, 5km east of San Remo, and walk the 2km up (30 minutes).