|
Cinque Terre and Tuscany cooking Tour (3
nights)
Tuscany Cooking & Touring Tour
(5 nights)
Tuscany Cooking break (3 nights)
Tuscany Truffles Autumn Cooking & Touring
long week-end (2 nights)
Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre
5 Terre the villages
5 Terre Marine Park
Trekking 5 Terre
Trek Riviera Levante
La Spezia - Deiva
The Romans
Levanto
Gastronomy 5 Terre
Cinque Terre wine
The Poet's Gulf
Poets' Gulf
La Spezia
La Spezia - the Gulf
La Val di Magra
La Val di Vara
La Via Francigena
Lerici
Lerici itineraries
Luni archeological site
Portovenere
Gastron. Golfo Poeti
Riviera di Levante
Camogli
Levanto
Portofino
San Fruttuoso
Santa Margherita
Sestri Levante
|
|
Santa Margherita -
Photo (c) James Lawson
|
Santa Margherita Ligure
A palm-lined harbor, nice beach,
and a friendly ambience make Santa Margherita a fine place to settle
down for a few days of sun and relaxation.
Santa Margherita is much frequented by Milaneses, many
retired people from Milan have a winter residence here.
Life in Santa Margherita centers on its palm-fringed
waterfront, a pleasant string of marinas, docks for pleasure and
fishing boats, and pebbly beaches. Landlubbers congregate in the cafes
that spill out into the town's two seaside squares, Piazza Martiri della
Liberta and Piazza Vittorio Veneto.
The station is on a hill above the waterfront, and a
staircase in front of the entrance will lead you down into the heart of
town.
|
Side trips
|
An Excursion to San Fruttuoso--Much of the
Monte Portofino Promontory can be approached only on foot or by boat
, making it a prime destination for hikers. If you want to combine some
excellent exercise with the pleasure of glimpsing magnificent views of
the sea through a lush forest, arm yourself with a map from the tourist
offices in Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure, Portofino, or Rapallo and
set out for Abbazia di San Fruttuoso (tel. 0185-772-703).
You can also visit San Fruttuoso with one of the
boats that run almost every hour during the summer months from
Camogli. A round-trip costs 8€ and takes about 30 minutes each
way. For more information, contact
Golfo Paradiso (tel. 0185-772-091). Note: You can
also reach it by hourly (in summer)
Tigullio boats (tel. 0185-284-670) from Portofino (20 min.; 8€),
Santa Margherita (35 min.; 12€), and Rapallo (50 min.; 13€).
|
Santa Margherita -
Photo (c) James Lawson
|
|
Santa Margherita
Photo (c) James Lawson
|
Getting There
By Train -- Between two and three coastal trains per hour
connect Santa Margherita with Genoa (regional: 35 min.;
high-speed: 25 min.), Camogli (5 min.), Rapallo (3 min.), and
Monterosso (regional: 55 min.; high-speed: 40 min.) of the Cinque
Terre, and further South, La Spezia and Pisa.
By Bus -- There is at least one
Tigullio (tel.
0185-288-834) bus an hour to Camogli
(30-35 min.) and to Rapallo (10 min.), leaving from Piazza
Vittorio Veneto. Buses also ply the stunningly beautiful coast road to
Portofino, leaving every 20 minutes from the train station and
Piazza Vittorio Veneto (25 min.).
By Boat --
Tigullio ferries (tel. 0185-284-670) make hourly trips to Portofino
(15 min.) and Rapallo (15 min.). In summer, there is a boat about 4
days a week to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre. Hours of service
vary considerably with season; the schedules are posted on the docks at
Piazza Martiri della Liberta.
By Car -- The fastest route into Santa
Margherita is the A12 Autostrada dei Fiori from Genoa or from
La Spezia from the South; the trip takes about half an hour from Genoa.
The Route S1 Aurelia along
the coast from Genoa is much slower but more scenic.
|
Information
Festivals & Markets -- Santa Margherita's winters are
delightfully mild, making it a favorite destination for retired
milaneses winter residence, but even so, the town rushes to usher in spring with
a Festa di Primavera, held on moveable dates in February.
Like
the Sagra del Pesce in neighboring Camogli, this festival also features
food -- in this case fritters are prepared on the beach and served
around roaring bonfires.
Do not miss the fish market on Lungomare Marconi; this colorful event
transpires from 8am to 12:30pm, and on Fridays Corso
Matteotti, Santa Margherita's major street for food shopping when it is turned into an open-air food market.
|
Fish Market - Photo (c)
.unsuono.
|
(c) 1997-2008 E. Massetti
TangoItalia - Food Wine Travel in Italy - Home
|
