Liguria - Italian Riviera

The region of Liguria is also known as the Italian Riviera and is well marked as a major tourist spot with famous resort towns sprinkled among the fishing villages and rocky coastline. Liguria occupies a thin stretch of coastline from Italy's western border with France, following the Mediterranean coastline south and east to its border with Tuscany. To the north and east, coastal mountains separate Liguria from Piedmonte and Emilia-Romagna. This unique geography of mountains and sea has produced a climate and landscape that you would expect much further south in Italy. Palm trees, citrus fruits and olives share the terraced growing space with Liguria's famous flower industry and more common northern species like chestnuts. Liguria is separated into two "Rivieras", the Riviera di Ponente to the east and the Riviera di Levante to the west with the Ligurian capital of Genoa separating the two. In the past the Riviera di Ponente was the more famous side, with famous resort towns like San Remo, however writers, artists and tourists alike have discovered the jewels of the Riviera di Levante such as Portofino and the Cinque Terre.