The Italian Riviera

Alassio

I've been to Nice and the French Riviera and I've also been up and down the Italian Riviera. I much prefer the Italian Riviera. The French Riviera has the mystic with the film festival and movies highlighting the cities on the coast. What I found was a rocky beach in Nice. The beach is long and Nice is beautiful but I wouldn't want to spend a day at the beach.

The Italian Riviera is absolutely beautiful with sandy beaches. The best way to describe the Italian Riviera is hands stretching out to the sea. The palm of the hand is inland with the fingers extending to the sea. When driving along the coast you seem to be either in a tunnel, which is the finger, or a bridge, which is the space between the fingers stretched wide. In between the fingers you will find the beautiful cities and towns along the coast. Each tunnel and bridge has a name and the Italians must take pride in them as every once in while I would see the name of a bridge or tunnel and also a sign saying "A fine Tunnel". Most of the beach towns have a beautiful sandy, not rocky, beach.

On this trip I drove down the finger from Bardino down to Pietre Ligure and drove along the coast toward Monte Carlo to Loano and Alassio. Both are sandy beaches. Alassio has a beach that stretches on for miles with a small drop-off that allows you to walk quite a way out into sea. The beach is divided up between different venues offering, for a fee, a lounge chair with umbrella, showers and lockers. Anyone can access the beach but to use the facility you should pay the fee. Since I was by myself I just walked up and down the beach.

My cousin lives in Loano and the next day she invited me to the beach there. They have a shorter beach but still long and the same facilities. She goes there often with her son and rent a space at the same place each time. She likes going there because it has a rock seawall that creates a shallow swimming area for the kids but if you climb over the wall it is very deep. That would be one of the differences between Loano and Alassio. The beach in Loano drops off pretty fast. I climbed over the seawall and swam in the Mediterranean Sea for over an hour. The salty sea made it easy to float.

Each town along the Italian Riviera has it's own vibe. Some are major ports for cargo, or ferries to Corsica and Sardinia. Some have long sandy beaches and others hug the tip of the finger along a cliff. All have narrow streets built before cars as you get closer to the sea which makes for a pleasant walk along the streets lined with shops. Along the beach and even more inland you won't have a problem finding a restaurant or cafe with great food and drinks.

Going to the beach my two last days was the perfect end to a European vacation. My advice is to end a vacation on a relaxing note. Who wants to say, "I have to go back to work to get some rest?".