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Ventimiglia
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Barely 6km east of the border,
VENTIMIGLIA
is the first stop inside Italy, a scruffy frontier town that had several centuries of minor prosperity courtesy of the constant border traffic, but is now experiencing hard times. In 1995 the
Schengen
agreement, permitting unhindered passage between France and Italy, rendered Ventimiglia's time-honoured role as customs post and refreshment point redundant. Even the excuse of stopping to spend your last lire will evaporate after 2002, when the currency is unified on both sides of the border. The main advantage of breaking your journey here is that hotels offer considerably better value than those in other nearby resorts, and it makes a good base for country walks.
The huge train station is in the centre of the modern quarter on the eastern bank of the River Roia. A block in front of the forecourt runs the main Via Cavour, with the tourist office at no. 61 (Mon-Sat 8am-7pm; tel 0184.351.183, www.apt.rivieradeifiori.it ) and the covered flower market nearby. Across the river is the crumbling medieval quarter up on its hill, the most prominent sight being the Romanesque Cattedrale dell'Assunta with its twelfth-century campanile and, behind it, an eleventh-century polygonal Baptistry . About 1km east of the station, alongside the main road and rail tracks, lie a small late-second-century AD amphitheatre , town gate and remains of Roman Albintimilium with the nearby Forte dell'Annunziata, Via Verdi 41, displaying a small collection of finds in the Museo Archeologico G. Rossi (Tues-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 3-5pm, Sun 10am-12.30pm; L4000/a?¬2.06). The best day to visit is Friday, when a colourful clothes, food and junk market takes over the centre of town, and French bargain-hunters stream across the border.
The priciest
hotel
is
La Riserva
, 5km northwest in Castel d'Appio, at Via Peidago 79 (tel 0184.229.533, fax 0184.229.712,
www.lariserva.it
; L200,000-250,000/a?¬103.29-129.11; Easter-Sept) - grand views from the terrace and a pool raise it well out of the ordinary. The pleasant
Sea Gull
, Passeggiata Marconi 24 (tel 0184.351.726, fax 0184.231.217,
www.seagullhotel.it
; L90,000-120,000/a?¬46.48-61.98) has its own patch of beach below the medieval quarter. Of the occasionally grotty low-end choices,
XX Settembre
, Via Roma 16 (tel 0184.351.222; L60,000-90,000/a?¬30.99-46.48) and
Villa Franca
, Corso Repubblica 12 (tel 0184.351.871, fax 0184.33.434; up to L60,000/a?¬30.99) stand out, the latter close to the station. For
food
, try the excellent
Usteria d'a Porta Marina
(closed Tues eve & Wed), overlooking the river at Via Trossarelli 22: the celebrated
branzino
(sea-bass) in local Rossese wine is expensive, but they have three-course menus for L30,000/a?¬15.49. Other less pricey places line the promenades on the east side of the river; one option is the
Terrazzino
, which has a rock-bottom
menu fisso
for L18,000/a?¬9.30. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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