Laigueglia
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Laigueglia

Laigueglia

Small Riviera delle Palme seaside village preserving narrow streets, old houses, and Ligurian baroque San Matteo.

Laigueglia is a small seaside village at the western end of the Baia del Sole, just south of Alassio on the Riviera delle Palme. Originally a fishing settlement that swore allegiance to Genoa in 1191, it became an independent commune in the sixteenth century before being absorbed back into the Genoese republic in 1609.

The village has kept its old character better than many of its larger neighbours. A round tower from 1564 is the oldest building, and there are houses from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries lining the narrow streets. The parish church of San Matteo, built between 1754 and 1783, is the architectural highlight — a fine example of Ligurian baroque with a facade flanked by two campaniles decorated with glazed tiles. Inside are a sixteenth-century marble shrine, canvases by Genoese painters including Bernardo Castello and Bernardo Strozzi, and a seventeenth-century wooden choir in the adjoining oratory of Santa Maria Maddalena.

Thanks to its sheltered position, Laigueglia enjoys mild weather year-round and draws visitors for swimming, water-skiing, windsurfing and sailing.

Guide

Day Trips

The natural day-trip destinations from Laigueglia run along the coast in both directions. To the north, Alassio is a fifteen-minute walk along the seafront promenade or a five-minute bus — busier and more polished than Laigueglia, with the curiosity of the Muretto, the wall of celebrity-signed tiles started by Hemingway and Mario Berrino in the 1950s. To the south, Andora, Cervo (a beautifully preserved medieval village built up a steep hill) and Diano Marina are within easy reach.

Inland, the Riviera's hill villages — Garlenda, Villa Faraldi, Villanova d'Albenga — are reachable by car in twenty minutes and offer cooler air, terraced olive groves, and small Romanesque churches. The Gallinara island, off Albenga to the north, is a nature reserve with boat trips in season.

Guide

Eating Out

Laigueglia eats Ligurian, which means seafood and basil. Look for the classics: trofie or trenette al pesto (the basil here, grown on the slopes above the coast, is the original); acciughe al verde (anchovies in green sauce); cappon magro, the stacked seafood salad; stoccafisso accomodato (stockfish stew); and farinata, the chickpea pancake baked on a copper plate.

The restaurants line the inland alleys of the old town and the seafront promenade. The simple trattorias one street back from the beach are generally more honest and better value than the seafront places, which mark up for the view. Try a long lunch on a back-street terrace — Laigueglia does not rush.

For something cheaper, the takeaway focaccerias along Via Genova will sell you focaccia by the slice — plain, with onions, with cheese, or with anchovies — for a few euros, ideal beach food.

Guide

Getting There

The nearest railway station is at Andora, two kilometres west of Laigueglia, on the line that runs along the Ligurian coast between Ventimiglia and Genoa. Local trains stop here every hour or so; the connection to Genoa takes about ninety minutes. A short bus or taxi covers the kilometres between the station and the village.

By car, the A10 motorway parallels the coast inland. The Andora exit drops you onto the SP1 coastal road, which carries you directly into Laigueglia in about ten minutes. Parking in the village proper is limited and metered in season; large free car parks at the western end of town (near the old salt warehouses) are the easier option in July and August.

The nearest airports are Nice (about two hours west by motorway) and Genoa (an hour east). Nice has more international connections; Genoa is closer and easier to drive from.

Guide

Things to Do

Laigueglia is small enough that the principal pleasure is just walking it — the alleys of the old quarter, the long sandy beach, the seafront promenade. Climb up to Colla Micheri behind the town for a view back across the bay, swim at the central beach, and visit the parish church of San Matteo for one good morning out of the sun.

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