The Italian Riviera: off he beaten track

Luigi Speranza
Bordighera

The 85 miles of Italy's coast from the French border to Genova and beyond mixes user-friendly beaches with the rugged beauty of Alpine foothills reaching inland toward the region of Piedmont, Italy's agricultural heartland.

The Italian Riviera, both Ponente and Levante, is a big draw for Italian, French, German and Swiss vacationers, so don't expect to hear much English.

A good Italian phrase book is handy if you can't fall back on another European language.

Gaming is one attraction in the faded, but still bustling small city if Sanremo.

The coast of Liguria, the region nearest France, is naturally rocky.

Most coastal towns have a free beach, but these can be pretty rugged and choked with seaweed.

Fortunately, just a few euros per day buys access to beautifully maintained private beaches, called "bagni", which truck in tons of fine sand every year.

Almost every town divides its seafront into a series of bagni (literally, "baths"), where you can rent a lounge chair with umbrella for several euros a day.

A cabana for changing and locking up possessions is usually also available for a few euros more.

Most bagni have a snack bar, which can offer everything from light refreshments to full meals.

Local trains and buses run along the coast, eliminating the need for a rental car—and an aspirin for the headache induced by the frantic local traffic.

Aside from beaches, the faded but still bustling small cities of

Sanremo

and

Imperia

give a feel for how Italy's wealthy used to live.

The "ville" they built a century or more ago dot the steep hillsides and appear in varying playful styles, pastel colors and states of repair.

From the hilltops there are dramatic views down to the sea.

Just a few miles inland, switchback mountain roads are lined with olive trees that have made the region an oil center for centuries.

Olives are now processed in modern facilities, but the history of their cultivation and use is evident in and around the compact hillside town of Dolcedo, five miles inland from Imperia.

Disused mills with decaying water wheels still cling to the banks of the narrow Prino River.

In Dolcedo, a medieval stone bridge spans a dramatic gorge, and the town is home to five chapels built in a range of architectural styles, including the baroque.

It's hard to get a bad meal on the Italian Riviera, particularly if you stick with fresh seafood.

Enjoy it with wines from the nearby hills, such as Barolo, Barbaresco and Dolcetto.

A satisfying waterfront tourist spot is

"Hobo's Pizzeria"

in Imperia (011-39-0183-64-205).

For $18, you can eat fried squid so delicate they're almost unrecognizable compared to the rubbery rings that often pass as calamari.

The seafood spaghetti and risotto, also both $18, use the same local catch as the fish of the day.

In Dolcedo,

"Casa Della Rocca" (011-39-0183-280-138) features live music and seasonal food of the region, including a mixed grill with frogs from the Prino River. Fixed-price menus range from $21 to $49.

And since no Italian vacation would be complete without dolci, visit the stately Balzola bakery and café (011-39-0182-640-209) in Alassio for baci, or "kisses." These chocolate-meringue and hazelnut-cream cookies are addictive.

Where to Stay.

Alassio is the region's toniest beach town.

The understatedly elegant

"Hotel Ligure",

in the middle of town, faces Alassio's boardwalk and has its own beach access (011-39-0182-640-653). A room for two facing the town starts at $278 per night, while a suite with sea view runs at about $557 per night in the high season. The hotel's Solaria Spa offers a brine bath.

In Imperia, the Miramare (011-39-0183-667-120) is a 19th-century villa uphill from the waterfront that has been converted into serviced apartments.

A suite with small kitchen starts at about $209 per night.

The coastline train station is one minute away, which is convenient but can be a bit noisy.