Liquaria region of Italy??

[micegg]

I am thinking of going to Italy for a week in July. Does anyone know anything about the liquaria region.I have found a couple of nice sounding houses for £300 per week in a village desrcibed as being 20 mins frm the beach and 45 mins from nice.

I know Liguria reasonably well as we used to live over the border in Piemonte and travelled there very regularly. What do you need to know??

Which resorts are the best to visit. Must see places. We would be looking for self catering with somewhere that has restaurants/shops nearby.

We have camped several times in the Cinque Terre region of Liguria. It is a lovely area. One tip though is that alot of the beaches are pebbly so make sure you have some 'jelly' shoes! Will try and remeber more details - haven't been for 3 years and my memory is a bit fuzzy!

We stayed in Albenga & Santa Margherita Ligure which were both great. There is a good train line linking the Cinque Terre villages. The food is fantastic & it is a very beautiful area, & very relaxed. Alot of Italian families holiday there.

We used to visit the Cinque Terre, Santa Margherita and Sestri Levante a lot - all were really nice though v different in size. Around the corner from S Margherita is the cove of Paraggi and we often used to go there to sit on the beach. The Cinque Terre are stunning but choose your village carefully as some are v steep and rocky.

Places to visit are the monastery of San Fruttuoso (get a little boat from Camogli). It is magical and you often see dolphins in the water around you. Also, of course, Portofino to see how the other half live!

Oh yes...Sestri Levante was the other one we visited. It was on the tip of my tongue! Thanks 2xtrouble!

How old are your DC? IMHO the beaches on the French side are better, esp in July & August, and the coastal town on the italian side can seem a bit tired and seedy - inland is better. A great & very cheap train ride goes from Nice to St Margharita, really hugs the coast - spectacular scenery. Driving along the corniche can be a bit of a trial, in & out of tunnels every few minutes, but stunning views (had my honeymoon there, so very fond memories of Liguria.)St Margharita is stunning, very friendly town, good places to eat & drink. Worth the boat ride ( about 20 mins) from the harbour there to Portofino - the Splendido is overrated as a hotel, but the pasta is unbeatable and the view from the restaurant terrace is unmissable, tho' if ou are with DC may not seem so glamorous .
Deffo recommend you read Annie Hawes books about starting an Olive farm - I think the first one is called 'Extra Virgin' - hilarious & lots of local detail.
The rough gude is useful too.

Thanks all. My DD will be 21 months. We want to go self catering.

We've stayed in Liguria quite a few times in the area you're talking about and love it. We hire a car and stay in a house belonging to a family member, then enjoy the freedom to come and go as we please. If it's 45 minutes from Nice it's not as far round the coast as the Cinque Terre.

I agree the French beaches may be nicer, partly because of the Italian habit of partitioning off the beaches. We took our ds there last year when he was 3 months old, and will be back at some stage later this year. We stay slightly inland, in the hills, so it usually takes 10-15 mins to get to the closest beach. Bordighera is nice, San Remo a bit tacky, we like Menton in France. For us it's an ideal location, because you can pop in and out of France and Italy, are near the coast but can escape the heat and crowds by going a bit more inland. If you have more specific questions I'll try to answer them.