Liguria's western coast has something the famous east side doesn't: space. While travellers queue for Cinque Terre, the Riviera Ponente offers accessible Italian seaside charm without the crush. You'll find sandy beaches (rare enough in Liguria to feel like a bonus), working fishing villages alongside polished resorts, and a gentler pace that still feels authentically Mediterranean. Winters here draw northern Europeans fleeing the cold, and it's close enough to France that day trips to Monaco or Nice make sense.
What Makes the Riviera Ponente Special
- Sandy beaches in a rocky coast. The western Ligurian shore breaks the region's trademark shingle habit with proper beaches around Alassio and Finale Ligure, making family swimming actually pleasant.
- Genuine working towns, not museum villages. These aren't preserved-in-amber tourist attractions. Fishermen still land their catch; locals argue in bars; flowers still grow in market gardens outside San Remo.
- Half the tourists, half the prices. You're in the same region as Cinque Terre, but accommodation costs roughly 40% less and you won't need a reservation three months ahead.
- Flower power like nowhere else in Europe. San Remo's flower market is the continent's oldest and largest. Cut flowers ship daily to Paris and London; walking the surrounding hill villages, you'll see why.
- Genuine Mediterranean weather without summer extremes. Winters rarely drop below 8°C; summers top 28°C on average rather than the scorching 35°C of inland Italy.
Top Towns & Resorts in Liguria Riviera Ponente
San Remo
The prom town that time partly forgot. It's still elegant: the Ariston Theatre hosts the Italian Song Festival every January, and Corso Matteotti has the bones of 1920s grandeur. But it doesn't pretend to be somewhere it's not. You'll see scaffolding alongside belle époque façades, working-class bars next to cocktail lounges. The flower market sprawls across a cavernous space beneath the old town, a riot of colour and commerce that's worth timing your visit around. The pebbly beach isn't spectacular, and traffic congestion here is genuine; the main coast road bottlenecks badly during July/August.
Alassio
The closest thing to a proper beach resort on this stretch. A kilometre-long arc of sand (proper sand) plus a working marina and a genuinely nice waterfront. We've seen it busy in July, genuinely rammed. But come in June or September and you'll have space. The old town sits just inland: narrow alleys, drying laundry, good pizza places. The famous Muretto (a wall where visitors carve their initials) is underwhelming honestly, but it's the walk eastwards along the coast path that matters. Fair warning: the promenade can feel a bit tired out of season, and August crowds here rival anywhere else on this coast.
Finale Ligure
Three villages strung together. Finalborgo sits inland with medieval walls and a small main square; Finamare is the seafront with the biggest beach on this coast; Finalpia has a monks' abbey and feels older. Rock climbers come here because the surrounding cliffs are serious business: you'll notice the bolts and ropes. Families like the beaches. The main trade-off: the coastal road is narrow and winding, and parking near the beach is a scramble in summer. Winter and spring it's lovely and low-key; peak summer is genuine chaos at the waterfront.
Bordighera
A quieter, more refined resort that's popular with older travellers and those seeking gentler pace. The promenade is broad; the town climbing the hillside is genuinely charming without being saccharine. Street markets run three times a week. Just offshore, the Isola Gallinara is scenic but access is awkward. Winters here are genuinely mild (frost is rare) and the light in January is something special. The caveat: being quieter also means fewer restaurants outside summer, and the beach isn't as good as Alassio or Finale.
Imperia
Actually two towns that merged administratively (Porto Maurizio and Oneglia), still distinctly separate in character. Porto Maurizio has the old harbour charm; Oneglia is where the working fishing fleet lands. The combination makes it feel lived-in rather than performed. Its position at the western edge of the Riviera puts it closest to France: Nice is 45 minutes by car. The old town around Porto Maurizio cathedral is worth a morning walk. The honest bit: it's the least "resort-like" of these towns, which is exactly why we like it, but if you want beach umbrellas and pizza by the water, pick somewhere else.
