COASTAL SECTION between the French border and Ventimiglia

Entry into Italy from France, characterized by a high and indented coast, with exotic and Mediterranean vegetation, with suggestive beaches. The prehistoric caves and the Balzi Rossi museum, the Hanbury gardens , the beach and the rural villas of Latte are significant. The high coastal road reaches the nuclei of Grimaldi and Mortola Superiore, to arrive at the important historic center of Ventimiglia Alta. The diversified crops and irrigation cisterns are already visible. In the interior, the recovered village of Torri Superiore offers the possibility of sustainable tourism. Of great scientific and cultural interest, the Hanbury gardens house collections of plants from distant countries. The Hanburys created this acclimatization garden to allow the plants to acclimatize in the climate of the Riviera di Ponente, and then be able to transfer them to England.

IMPERIESE OLIVE GROVE

The fascinating landscape of the Taggiasca olive terraces, cultivated in groves, in the valleys behind Imperia (San Lorenzo, Prino, Impero, Dianese, Cervo), with numerous interesting historic villages in significant positions and remarkable views from the ridges. Moving away from the coast you find yourself immersed in a very suggestive atmosphere, with a network of paths that allow you to cross the olive groves, going up along the slopes, in different ways (by car, by bike, on foot, on horseback). From some villages perched on the ridge you can see the sea. The last coastal village, Cervo, has a perched historic center, with the beautiful coral church. The Vermentino and Pigato vineyards offer interesting wines.

VENTIMIGLIA – SANREMESE: mosaic of crops

The hilly landscape is characterized by a differentiated mosaic of vegetable and flower crops on terraces, in continuous transformation, both in the greenhouses and in the open field: vegetables, flowers and ornamental foliage, citrus and orchards, irrigation tanks, basil, cereals and plants for textile fibers connote a landscape that changes quickly.
From the greenhouses for flowers, no longer profitable, new interesting activities are born. In the flower museum in Sanremo, in the garden of Villa Ormond , you can learn about the history of Ligurian floriculture and hybridizers. Between Val Nervia and Verbone there are vineyards of Rossese . Vermentino finds one of the most suitable areas in the Sanremo area. In Taggia the crops border the olive grove (Taggiasca variety); here the precious Moscatello di Taggia was rediscovered and enhanced.

MIDDLE ARROSCIA VALLEY

Ranzo marks a passage between the wider lower valley, in the Albenganese area, cultivated with orchards and vineyards, and the mountain part, which rises to Pornassio and Col di Nava, in the Ligurian Alps, towards Piedmont and France. The highest olive groves, cut out between woods and pastures, alternate with vineyards, which here find some of the most significant areas for the Pigato . At the bottom of the valley there is the Oil and Wine Road, while a network of paths on the left bank reaches the high cores, along the hillside and ridge, with a peculiar panoramic view. The landscape around the village of Vessalico is characterized by the cultivation of garlic.