# Riviera di Ponente: Genoa to the French border

> 4-day road trip of about 178 km (111 mi) with 9 stops, from Genoa to Hanbury Botanical Gardens. About 2 h 28 min of driving in total.

Source: https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b1-riviera-ponente/

**At a glance:** 4-day road trip of about 178 km (111 mi) with 9 stops, from Genoa to Hanbury Botanical Gardens. About 2 h 28 min of driving in total. Medieval harbour towns, prehistoric footprints in a cave and Monet’s bridge on the western Ligurian coast, ending in a garden above the sea.

| | |
|---|---|
| Distance | 178 km (111 mi) |
| Driving | 2 h 28 min |
| Suggested days | 4 |
| Stops | 9 |
| Route | Genoa → Hanbury Botanical Gardens |
| Countries | Italy |
| Updated | September 20, 2026 |

## Route description

Leave Genoa westwards on the SS1 Aurelia, which follows the coast all the way to France; the A10 motorway runs parallel above it and is quicker but tolled. Noli, a former sea republic, keeps its towers and a Romanesque church, and the cliffs of Capo Noli hang over the road beyond it.

At Finale Ligure turn inland to walled Finalborgo, then continue to Toirano for the show caves with prehistoric footprints. Albenga has a cluster of brick towers and one of the oldest baptisteries in Liguria, and the plain behind it is covered in greenhouses and vegetable fields.

Cervo is a small village of lanes climbing to a Baroque church with a curved facade, where a chamber-music festival is held in summer. The flower town of Sanremo follows, with its casino and the steep medieval quarter of La Pigna.

Just before Ventimiglia head up the Nervia valley to Dolceacqua for the castle and the bridge Monet painted, then return to the coast for the Hanbury Gardens at La Mortola. The Aurelia is congested in July and August, and villages are tight for large vehicles, so use car parks at their edges.

## Stop-by-stop itinerary

1. **Genoa** (Italy)
2. **Noli** (Italy)
3. **Finalborgo** (Finale Ligure, Italy): A walled medieval quarter a kilometre inland from Finale Ligure’s beach, with gates, towers and a ruined castle above. Park outside the walls and walk in.
4. **Toirano caves** (Toirano, Italy): Show caves in the hills behind the coast where Palaeolithic footprints and cave-bear bones were found. Visits are guided and the caves stay cool all year.
5. **Albenga** (Italy)
6. **Cervo** (Italy)
7. **Sanremo** (Italy)
8. **Dolceacqua bridge and castle** (Dolceacqua, Italy): A single-arched medieval bridge below the Doria castle, painted by Monet in 1884. Leave the car in the car park by the river; the village lanes are too narrow.
9. **Hanbury Botanical Gardens** (Ventimiglia, Italy): Terraced gardens founded in 1867 by Thomas Hanbury, dropping from the Via Aurelia to the sea a few kilometres from the French border. Allow two hours and bring water.