The 10 most beautiful beaches in Liguria!

It is one of the most frequent questions that I heard: Where are the most beautiful beaches in Liguria? Below I list my personal and subjective list 🙂 I think that nobody should miss them when comes here for holiday.

Let’s start!

10) Boccadasse

Where: Genoa, central Liguria

Type of beach: pebbly

Accessibility: it is a public beach that is very easy to reach. It is enough to go down with large stairs or arrive directly from a street

It is located in an eastern part of Genoa. In the past, it was a fishermen village and now is a quarter of Genoa. Around the beach, you can find numerous restaurants and bars. It is one of the most popular places where to meet friends and to have aperitivo.

9) Alassio

Where: Province Savona, western Liguria

Type of beach: sandy

Accessibility: It is a public/private beach and it is enough to go through one of the streets of an old town of Alassio to reach it.

The beach is extended along a main carruggio of Alassio. You can find all kinds of facilities there (bars, restaurants, shops etc.). What is more, a deep water doesn’t start here immediately so it is a perfect place for families with children. A sea has a beautiful, azure colour. From the beach, you can admire a nearby island Gallinara.

8) Monterosso

Where: Province La Spezia, eastern Liguria, Cinque Terre

Type of beach: sandy/gravel

Accessibility: Public and private beach that extends along a promenade. Very easy to reach.

It is the first thing that sees a tourist who gets off a train in Monterosso. The beach is located in Fegina, a newer part of the town. The most characteristic thing of the beach is a giant Neptune’s sculpture that is located on the western end of Monterosso. The sea there has an amazing, azure colour. Along the promenade, you find numerous bars and restaurants.

7)Lerici, Baia Blu (Blue Bay)

Where: Province La Spezia, eastern Liguria

Type of beach: sandy

Accessibility: Quite difficult. The beach is divided into two parts: a private and a public. If you are a customer of the private one you can arrive with your car and park it in front of it (!). If not, you can park your car in via Santa Teresa and then you have to go down with a steep path that leads to the beach. If you arrive by bus, you get off in a village San Terenzo and then, on foot you follow indications to Baia Blu (about a 20 minutes walk).

It is a very calm and hidden beach. The water there has an intense, azure colour. The private beach has also a swimming pool for its customers. From the beach, you can admire a beautiful panorama on the islands Palmaria and Tino (UNESCO Heritage).

6) San Fruttuoso

Where: Province Genova, eastern Liguria

Type of beach: pebble

Accessibility: It is a public/private beach and it is located on a very top of Portofino Peninsula, in a heart of a National Park. You can reach it in 2 ways:

• by sea – boat or ferry (one-way ticket starts from 9€/person)
• on foot – 2 trails that lead to San Fruttuoso; one from Portofino and one from San Rocco. The trails are quite steep!

It is a very romantic and silent corner of Liguria. There you can visit a monastery from the X century. Around the beach, you find bars and restaurants. The water there has a turquoise colour and is crystal clear. It is a perfect place to have a rest 😉

5)Paraggi

Where: Province Genova, eastern Liguria

Type of beach: gravel/rocky

Accessibility: A gravelly beach in Paraggi is very easy to reach however, it is very small and always crowded. You can try to go on nearby rocks.

The beach is located on the way to Portofino, in a National Park.  In Paraggi a majority of the beach is private. Only a small part is public. If you don’t find a place there you can try your luck on nearby rocks. Maybe they are not very comfortable but offer a fantastic opportunity to admire this stunning place. A sea bottom there is quite slippery so it is a good idea to use plastic shoes. Close to the beach of Paraggi you can find bars, restaurants and Le Carillion, one of the most exclusive clubs in Liguria.

4)Noli, Spiaggia dei Pescatori (Fishermen Beach)

Where: Province Savona, western Liguria

Type of beach: sandy

Accessibility: very easy; the beach is located next to a main street of Noli

The beach is large and long. It is divided between private resorts and public beach. On the main public beach, you will see parked fishermen boats. If you choose to get a tan there you have to remember that fishermen can decide to move its boat … so you’ll have to move and allow the boat to be moved. But apart from this inconvenience, the beach is perfect! The water is azure and a sand is white and soft. From the beach, you see a beautiful, old town and a castle of Noli. Really stunning 🙂

3)Sestri Levante, Baia del Silenzio (Silence Bay)

Where: Province Genova, eastern Liguria

Type of beach: sandy

Accessibility: very easy, the beach is located close to an old town of Sestri Levante.

The beach is located in a beautiful Silence Bay. It is surrounded by houses that were built on a border of the beach. On the beach, you find numerous bars. What is more, a nearby old town offers all kinds of facilities you could need. The whole beach is public but you can rent a deckchair or a beach umbrella. The only thing that you have to remember is that during the summer season the beach is very crowded. And you have to arrive very early to find a place there! However, the place is really enchanting!

2)Bergeggi – Baia delle Sirene (Bay of Mermaids)

Where: Province Savona, western Liguria

Type of beach: sandy

Accessibility: quite easy; all beaches of Bergeggi are extended along SS1 Aurelia. The road leads about 30 meters above the sea level. To reach the beach you have to use long stairs. However, when you arrive in it you will forget about all efforts that you made for reach it 🙂

When I came there for the first time I was really shocked 🙂 They don’t even look like Ligurian beaches. They are similar to the Sicilian or Apulian ones. They are surrounded by high, white rocks but the beaches are sandy. The water has intense, turquoise colour and is always crystal clear. The most famous beach there is Baia delle Sirene. It has its private and public part. It has also a bar and a restaurant (inside a cavern!). From the beach, you admire a nearby island Bergeggi. If you can’t or don’t want to do the stairs you can go to another beach that is located on the eastern end of Bergeggi. There the beach is large and long and you find fewer stairs to go on it.

Warning: it is better to come there in the morning because in the afternoon the sun hides behind the mountains and the beach remains in shadow.

1)Varigotti

Where: Province Savona, western Liguria

Type of beach: sandy

Accessibility: it depends, because Varigotti has 3 different beaches … and they all are really stunning:

• Punta Crena – you can arrive there on foot, with a steep trail. The last 100 m of the trail you go down along vertical rock hooked by a rope… if you don’t feel so adventurous you can arrive there by boat or by pedalo.
• Baia dei Saraceni (Saracens Bay) – a main and the most famous beach of Varigotti. It is large and very long. It is extended along SS1 Aurelia and  is very easy to reach. You can park your car along the road (white parking places) or arrive by bus (line 40). The beach is public but FOR PAYMENT!!! (5€/person). However,  about 500 m on west from the official entrance you can find another entrance that is totally free of charge. Your choice 😉
• Ca’ dei Mori – a part of the beach that is located close to the town. It is more crowded because it is the easiest to reach. It is enough to take any street of Varigotti’s old town and you arrive there.

I think it is one of the most magical places in Liguria (maybe even in whole Italy!). Varigotti with its exotic architecture that reminds its African past (in the XII century it was the town of African Saracens). It doesn’t seem to be even a Ligurian town! What is more, the sea color is really amazing there. Close to Ca’ dei Mori you can find many bars and restaurants. A kind of paradise …. 🙂

 

So … have fun!