Alps and Apennines, the two main Italian mountain chains, here embrace and dissolve the furies of the Ligurian Sea. The coast is sleek and slim, projected into the darkness of the mountains.

Cinque Terre and the Golfo dei Poeti (Poets’ Gulf), the Golfo of Tigullio, Genoa and the Golfo Paradiso, the Riviera delle Palme (Palm Riviera) and the Riviera dei Fiori (Flower Riviera) lie on this strip, stealing the limelight from the hill that plunges into the sea.

Along the 300km strip, suffocatingly beautiful, famous resorts like Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo and Sestri Levante meet the fabulous Baia del Silenzio (Bay of Silence), and Chiavari. Lovely beaches, marinas and reserved scenarios lightly and decisively sketched, which in the evening leave room for entertainment and shopping.

Sanremo, city of flowers. Refined Bordighera. Alassio with its 3km of sandy beach. Varigotti and Laigueglia. All "gems" embedded in the Riviera di Ponente.

Inlets and bays are kissed by a mild climate all year long. Nature, culture and gastronomy are nestled in the tranquillity of the hinterland, to reveal their wealth with the humility of aristocrats, the real ones.

And yet, Portovenere and Lerici, with the imposing medieval castle, its elegant villas and lush gardens. And the sea, which draws sperm whales, fin whales and dolphins that in this "Whale Sanctuary" are able to find a natural habitat in which to live in safety.

The extended woods of Liguria, with its trees, a true natural heritage, are a good alternative to traditional tourism.

Treasures of all kinds: thin and fragrant, with olive oil, focaccia is one of the symbols of Liguria. It is different from Recco’s cheese focaccia: a double layer of pastry and filled with cheese. Pesto (sauce made with basil and pine nuts), cima filled Genoa-style, Pasqualina cake, Genovese sweet-bread, Lagaccio cookies: here are some other delights of the road of wine and oil that runs from the Alps to the sea.