Liguria is a narrow, crescent-shaped region in northwest Italy, hugging the Mediterranean between the Alps, the Apennines, and the sea. Known as the Italian Riviera, it is famous for the five cliffside villages of the Cinque Terre, the glamorous harbour of Portofino, and the maritime city of Genoa. Liguria is also the birthplace of pesto, focaccia, and a culinary tradition built around the sea and the steep, terraced coast.
Luxury hotels
Five-star and palace properties.
Belmond Hotel Splendido, Portofino
The most storied hotel on the Italian Riviera, a former monastery set high above Portofino's bay with frescoed rooms, terraced gardens, and a heated saltwater pool overlooking the harbour. Sixty-one rooms and suites with round-trip transfers and daily breakfast included.
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino
The harbourside sister of the Splendido, directly on Portofino's famous piazzetta with intimate nautical-chic rooms steps from the water and access to the hilltop pool and spa. Only 14 rooms and suites and the celebrated DaV Mare restaurant.
Grand Hotel Miramare, Santa Margherita Ligure
A belle epoque grand hotel facing the Tigullio gulf, member of The Leading Hotels of the World, with subtropical gardens, a heated seawater pool, and a private beach platform a short boat hop from Portofino.
Grand Hotel dei Castelli, Sestri Levante
A fairy-tale property occupying a wooded private peninsula between the Baia del Silenzio and Baia delle Favole, with mock-medieval towers, a clifftop seawater pool, and a private rock beach reached by lift.
Villa della Pergola, Alassio
An Anglo-Mediterranean villa estate on the western Riviera surrounded by historic terraced gardens of wisteria and Asian botanicals, with the Michelin-starred Nove restaurant and panoramic views over the Gulf of Alassio.
Grand Hotel Portovenere, Gulf of Poets
A converted 17th-century Franciscan convent on the seafront of UNESCO-listed Portovenere, gateway to the Cinque Terre by boat, with harbour-view terraces and easy access to yacht moorings and Byron's grotto.
Fine dining
Michelin-starred and chef-driven restaurants.
Il Marin
Chef Marco Visciola's one-Michelin-star restaurant inside Eataly's Millo building, with panoramic windows over Renzo Piano's Old Port. Territory-driven seafood that reinterprets Ligurian classics with modern technique. Reserve via ilmarin.it or +39 010 8698722.
The Cook
Chef Ivano Ricchebono's one-Michelin-star restaurant, the only starred table in Genoa's old town, serving creative Ligurian cuisine in an elegant historic-centre setting.
San Giorgio
A one-Michelin-star Genoese institution offering polished seafood-led tasting menus and an extensive cellar in a refined dining room near the Foce district.
Paolo e Barbara
Chef Paolo Masieri has held a Michelin star in Sanremo since 1990, championing western Ligurian ingredients - Gambero di Sanremo prawns, local olive oil, and herbs - in elegant ingredient-led tasting menus.
Miky
A celebrated seafront restaurant in Monterosso, the Cinque Terre's leading fine-dining table, famous for Monterosso anchovies, fresh catch, and an exceptional Ligurian wine list overlooking the beach.