Holidays around GENOA
The secret of a good holiday is... an element of surprise.
Cladled between land and sea, living and working in the port, breathing its past
in her patrician palaces, passionately fond of the terraced hills that embrace the city,
Genova is a city of many different faces.
A modern metropolis and a severe costudian of artistic heritage, an industrious marketplace
that also had shady, century-old parks to relax in.
Genoa hides her riches in an historical centre that looks traditionally seaward
yet at the same time exhibits a new beauty achieved by restoring the splendour of ages past.
Youthfulness springs from the new urban fabric that har restored works of ats and architecture.
Enticement abounds in the vistas between sea and sky, over the cliff rising sheer
from the water, in the colours of the verdant hills.
- On the Riviera
- Palazzo ducale, neoclassical facade
- Carlo Felice opera house
- Genoa, Old City and Port
- Congress Center in the old Cotton Warehouses
- "Bigo" in the Old Port
- Beach wood in autumn
The colour of a holiday is... sea blue
The fresh sea air, the waves breaking onthe coast, the brush strokes of every changing blue that lap
from Cogoleto to Sori, the romantic background in certain spots where the
Mediterranean vegetation is mirrored in the waters that try to break from
the grip of the sheer-faced rocks: the Gulf of Genoa ia s canvas beyond the
reach of any artist, for here Nature has trascended herself.
Geraniums, bouganvilles, rose bushes amongs olive trees, palms and maritime pines
interact with the sea to produce extraordinary chromatic effects.
Tiny fishing villages clinging tenaciously to the rocks provide the ideal
scenario for a holiday where everithing is tinged sea blue - the taut sails
of the windsurfs, the coves and sandy beaches, the harbour jetties, the promenades
in the moonlight when the sea is a deep blue mirror in which the stars chase one another.
- The sea at Cogoleto
- Bogliasco, sea-faring village
- View from Sori
- Sea-front promenade, Nervi
- View from Pieve Ligure
- Summer in Arenzano
- View from Arenzano
A green holiday in the freedom of nature
Averdant crown of hills just a stone's throw from the sea - an invitation
to a natural holiday: a few kilometers from the city, in the valleys that
go down to the sea, is a whole new world to discover.
Win back your freedom in an escape into pleasing spaces, flavours.
A universe that is accessible all year round, with trips and excursions that
reveal unsuspected scenarios, whose extraordinary charm remains intact today.
On a mountain-bike through woods and along paths, on horseback through beeches, holm-oaks and sudden
grass decked clearings, this is the way to appreciate what nature has to give us.
The history of the mediaeval settlements in the hinterland is something
we can feel in the very air, from Campoligure to Torrhglia, from Busalla to
Tiglieto, from Fontanigorda to Savignone.
- view from Canale di Fontanigorda in winter
- Golf links
- Riding school, Arenzano
- Snow in Antola
- Waterfall in the Stura valley
- Woods and meadows, Rovegno
- Deltaplane from Monte Maggio, Savignone
The thrill of a holiday has roots in the past
The echoes of time reverberate everywhere, on mediaeval bridges and walls, in
the doorways of old palaces and ruins that tell of feats in bygone days.
History is at home in the patrician villas whose austere, imposing forms
break up the grid-like urban geometry and offer unique opportunities to
relive antique experiences in the gardens that surround them.
No one should decline the invitation to the Perks of Nervi, where the
enchanting presence of the sea can be enjoyed from within an extraordinary Rosetum.
Vestiges of a distant past, the ruined castles towering over villages in the
hinterland, bear silent witness to a never forgotten legend, like humble
country museums that perpetuate the memory of the customs and life styles
of a civilization tied to the earth.
And on a more spiritual level, tourists may enjoy the peacefulness of the Sanctuaries.
- Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Guardia, Polcevera valley
- Isola del Cantone: Tuscia Sanctuary
- Vobbia: "della Pietra" castle
- "Bambino Gesù di Praga" sanctuary, Arenzano
- Campo Ligure, castle and town
- Tiglieto: old bridge over Orba
- Church, Gorreto
Traditional colours for a festive holiday
Between religion and magic, superstition and popular sentiments, tradition
becomes reality and bedecks villages and cities in a crescendo of patron
saint's days, folklore events, festivals, fairs and torchlight processions.
This cultural heritage is rich in visual language, from the "Casacce" to the processions
in costume and numerous weird and wonderful festivals - every "holiday" has
a good reason for existing.
Fireworks displays light up the marketplaces and on June 23rd bonfires lit
on the jetties to celebrate San Giovanni set the whole coastline aflame.
the "colours" of tradition marry perfecly with the cult of local cuisine,
which stays loyal to its origins - Pasqualina pie, "trofie al pesto" and
"Cappon magron" ...
- Traditional regatta, Genoa
- Montebruno: Museum of Rural Culture
- Fireworks
- Mimosa Festival, Pieve Ligure
- Pendulum clock: Filigree museum, Campo Ligure
- "Farinata"
- Dancers in traditional costume, Genoa
- Procession to Acquasanta Sanctuary, Genoa Voltri
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Designed and Produced by Sagep spa - Genoa.
Written by: Laura Cametti and Fausto Fini.
Photographs: Archives Sagep, APT Genoa, Merlo, Olmi, Polidori, Pro Loco Pieve Ligure.
Translation: Context Genoa.