Cervo is one of the most photogenic villages on the Ligurian coast — a tight cluster of ochre and terracotta buildings stacked on a promontory above the sea, crowned by the exuberant white baroque facade of the Oratory of San Giovanni Battista. The church, built by the local coral-fishing guild in the 18th century, faces a tiny square that seems almost impossibly picturesque.
The village has been carefully preserved and is almost entirely free of the commercialisation that has overtaken similar places further east along the coast. The streets are steep and narrow, and completely closed to cars. A small but worthwhile church museum documents the village's coral-fishing history. Cervo is about 4 kilometres east of Diano Marina along the coast road — worth a half-hour stop at minimum.