Italy: Holiday on a high

Holiday on a high

From a full-day hike linking five medieval villages to a stroll through one of Italy's largest botanical gardens, walking is the best way to experience the beauty of coastal Liguria. Here are three walks, going west to east along this arc-shaped slice of Italy, from the border with France to Tuscany's coast.



Giardini Hanbury (garden)

In the late 19th century, northern Europeans flocked to get health treatments at seaside resorts on the westernmost stretch of Liguria. One visitor, Thomas Hanbury, an Englishman who made a fortune in silk and tea trade from China, devoted a promontory to a collection of exotic plants, now managed by the University of Genoa.

The botanical garden on a terraced hillside is now home to 6,000 plant species and also offers wide views of the sea and horizon. A series of trails cascade from Hanbury's stately villa down to the sea, passing by a papyrus-fringed fountain, through a cypress-lined path and in between a wild assembly of plants ranging from azaleas to eucalyptus, from aloe to olive trees. www.giardinihanbury.com



Punta Chiappa (trailhead and swimming spot)

Punta Chiappa, the rocky point where the forest-covered Monte di Portofino meets the sea, is one of the best swimming spots on the Italian Riviera. It's also a pool-size harbour if you want to cheat and come by boat; a long sliver of gray rocks jutting into deep water; and the end of a breathtaking 45-minute downhill trail.

From the church of San Rocco, high above the fishing town of Camogli and the departure point of many trails on the mountain, there is a view encompassing the sprawling city of Genoa and the curving Riviera di Ponente. On the way down, you'll pass fig orchards and terraces crawling with jasmine vines.



Sentiero Azzurro (trail)

This 14km "azure trail" links the five villages of Cinque Terre and provides a way to experience them as something other than a series of postcard views and touristy offerings.

The hardest and most rewarding stretch is from Monterosso to Vernazza and on to Corniglia. Climbing nearly 500 vertiginous metres up the dark-green hills, the unpaved, rocks-strewn trail meanders among olive trees, fragrant shrubs, and gnarled pines. www.parconazionale5terre.it AP



Lifted from TODAY, Travel - Thursday, 06-May-2010
Holiday on a high
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Venice will sink further: Group

Authority insists port project will pose no danger

High water is already affecting cafes in this Venice square.

ROME - The Italian authorities plan to expand Venice's port into a bustling shipping hub, further endangering the fragile lagoon and contributing to the sinking of the treasured city built on water, according to a conservation group.

Venice in Peril, a British fund that works to preserve Venice, said on Monday that a report it obtained from the local port authority showed plans to accommodate more and bigger ships in a bid to compete with other European harbours.

The port authority confirmed it had written the report but insisted the work will respect the environment and is necessary to deal with the growing flow of tourists and goods.

The debate illustrates the complex and often controversial balancing act between protecting the Unesco world heritage site and exploiting a port that gives easy access to prosperous areas of northern Italy and central Europe, as well as rapidly developing markets in the Balkans.

The report, drawn up for the Italian Senate, outlines ongoing and future work including the continued dredging of passages in the shallow lagoon to allow larger vessels in and the construction of a new shipping terminal in the long-declining mainland industrial zone of Porto Marghera.

The port authority is spending at least ?260 million ($535 million) to dredge inlets and navigation channels to allow the passage of ships of up to 400m in length.

This is of particular concern to conservationists because dredging and heavy ship traffic are seen as one of the causes of the rising sea level in the lagoon, which threatens the low-lying islands on which the historic city is built.

Under the combined effect of rising water levels and settling of the land, Venice has sunk 23cm in the last century.

Most experts agree that the waves generated by large ships and the currents that run through the deep passageways play a big part, displacing and dragging out to sea the sandbanks and sediment that help keep water out.

The rising sea level has increased the frequency of floods, and in December, Venice suffered its worst deluge in 22 years. Experts warn the problem could worsen in the coming decades.

The port authority report dismisses environmental concerns by declaring them solved thanks to a project to build towering movable barriers designed to rise from the seabed and prevent flooding.

The system is expected to be operational by 2014. AP

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 09-Sep-2009

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Snapshot Sorrento

If you're shopping for a million-dollar Bulgari necklace, Rome is the place.

But my favourite souvenir spot in southern Italy is Sorrento, especially during the uncrowded spring or fall.

Sorrento, 48km south of Naples on the Amalfi Coast, is perched precariously on a cliff, the azure Mediterranean sloshing below.

Its cobblestone-paved, walkable shopping district — small enough to enjoy in a couple of hours — is just off the main square, Piazza Tasso.

Stroll down the narrow shopping streets with names like Via San Cesareo and Via de Maio. See signature marquetry work — intricate wood-inlay jewellery boxes, music boxes and furniture. There's a shop that makes cameos and another creates jewellery out of red coral. You can buy local embroidery and lace.

At a shop or the city-owned lemon grove, buy the local liqueur called limoncello, a bitters the colour of a smoky sun made of lemon peels.

My favourite purchases were purses I bought for my four daughters in a little shop that had only the English word "Gloves" out front. They were made of smooth Italian leather, quite inexpensive, US$20 ($30) — one tan, one red, one black, one white — and the shopkeeper carefully wrapped each in a fabric drawstring bag.

I lugged them from Italy all the way home in a big shopping bag, stuffing them into the overhead compartment on the plane. Four years later, those purses still get compliments.

For additional information, see the Sorrento Tourism Office website at www.sorrentotourism.com. Ellen Creager, MCT

From TODAY, Traveller – Thursday, 14-May-2009

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