To the sea or to the mountains? Year after year, this pressing question divides couples and families planning their holidays. But in northwestern Italy, you can find both within a short distance.
Liguria and Piedmont offer sea and mountains within a very small area. Visiting is also worthwhile from a culinary point of view, with local delicacies between the Ligurian capital Genoa and the Piedmontese capital Turin all worth a try – if necessary, even on a single plate.
The most famous of all Ligurian foods is pesto alla Genovese. To make it, olive oil, roasted pine nuts, garlic, sea salt and lots of basil are ground in a mortar to form a creamy pasta sauce. It can be stored in jars for months. In Liguria, it is best served with trofie, a short, twisted pasta with pointed ends.
Pesto alla Genovese is served everywhere, from small trattorias to fine restaurants in the luxury hotels of Portofino.
The former fishing village, which clings to steep slopes in a tiny bay east of Genoa, is a jet-set hotspot. The few hotels often charge more than a thousand US dollars a night, even though the well-heeled have to share Portofino with hordes of day trippers who come by ferry at the harbour and the passengers of cruise ships, which anchor off the bay like besiegers.
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