Page 109 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Eating & Sleeping

Genoa 1 Alassio 4
5 Il Marin Seafood €€€ 4 Villa della
(Eataly Genova; %010 869 87 22; www.eataly. Pergola Boutique Hotel €€€
net; Porto Antico; meals €50; hnoon-3pm & (%0182 64 61 30; www.villadellapergola.com;
7-10.30pm) Eating by the water often means a Via Privata Montagu 9/1; d from €315; ps)
compromise in quality, but Eataly’s 3rd-floor Sitting in a tropical garden that rivals the
fine-dining space delivers both panoramic port ITALY
views and Genoa’s most innovative seafood home of eminent Victorian, General McMurdo.
menu. Rustic wooden tables, Renzo Piano– He bought the plot in 1875 and designed the
blessed furniture and an open kitchen make villa in Anglo-Indian style with large airy rooms,
for an easy, relaxed glamour, while dishes use broad verandahs and cascading terraces with
unusual Mediterranean-sourced produce and peerless sea views.
look gorgeous on the plate.
famous Villa Hanbury, Villa della Pergola was the 7 ITALIAN RIvIERA
San Remo 6
Finale Ligure 3
5 Ristorante Urbicia Vivas Ligurian €€
5 Osteria ai Cuattru Canti Osteria € (%0184 57 55 66; Piazza Dolori 5; meals €30;
(Via Torcelli 22; set menus €20; hnoon-2pm h10.30am-midnight) Basking in a quiet
& 8-10pm Tue-Sun) Simple and good Ligurian medieval square in San Remo’s remarkable old
specialities are cooked up at this rustic place in town, Urbicia is slavishly faithful to old Ligurian
Finalborgo’s historic centre. recipes with a strong bias towards seafood.
There’s a €12 lunch deal and Friday night is
4 Val Ponce Agriturismo € risotto night.
(%329 3154169; www.valleponci.it; Val Ponci
22, Localita Verzi; d/apt €85/165) Only 4km 4 Hotel Liberty Hotel €
from the beach, Val Ponce feels deliciously wild, (%0184 50 99 52; www.hotellibertysanremo.
tucked away in a rugged Ligurian valley. Horses com; Rondò Garibaldi 2; s €55, d €85-100;
graze, grapevines bud and the restaurant turns pa) A 10-room hotel is set in a Liberty-style
out fresh Ligurian dishes, with vegetables villa off a small traffic circle about 100m from
and herbs from a kitchen garden. On weekend the train station. It’s quiet, clean and run by
evenings and Sunday lunch, there’s live music helpful young owners.
or classic vinyl. Rooms are simple but show the
keen eye of the Milanese escapee owners.
4 Hotel Florenz Hotel €€ ventimiglia 7
(%019 69 56 67; www.hotelflorenz.it; Via Celesia 5 Pasta & Basta Ligurian €
1; s/d €86/132; hclosed Nov & Feb; pis) (%0184 23 08 78; www.pastaebastaventimiglia.
This rambling 18th-century former convent just com; Via Marconi 20; meals €20; hnoon-3pm
outside Finalborgo’s village walls (800m from & 7-10pm Tue-Sun, lunch only Mon) Duck into
the sea) is simple and homey but one of the the underpass near the seafront on the border
area’s most atmospheric spots to sleep. side of town to the perpetually redeveloping
port area. Various house-made fresh pasta can
be mixed and matched with a large menu of
sauces, including a good pesto or salsa di noci
(walnut purée), and washed down with a carafe
of pale and refreshing Pigato, a local white.

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