Ligurian charm, Italy
The town of San Remo on the Ligurian coast, between Genoa and Nice, has the air of a faded grand old lady, a little bit down on her luck but with plenty of dash still on offer. Blessed with the most enticing and charming streets of a medieval old town that meanders upwards in car-free bliss, on the way have lunch at La Ciotola (Via S Stefano 4) where the ravioli is homemade and superb. San Remo has a brilliant market where you can buy anything from essential undies to bagfuls of chilli with the tongue-in-cheek claim that it is meglio del viagra (better than Viagra). Autumn is still warm and sunny and the best beach to try is Tre Ponti, which is where the locals go given that a lot of hotels in Italy bag the best places on the coast for their guests.
Liz Owen Hernandez
