Home News from the Riviera

Next events in San Remo

Master Snipe European Championship
A great event, reserved to Master snipe sailors, will take place at the Sanremo Yacht Club. The Master Snipe European Championships will be held on the same days as the Spring Criterium. The event will bring crews coming from all over the world into town and will be the prelude to the world championship to be held in Autumn in Trieste. Thanks to this event, Sanremo will once again play a leading role in the Snipe world. The appointment will be from 10th to 12th April.

Sanremo International Dog Show
The Sanremo International Dog Show is the oldest event of Sanremo’s calendar of events. Its history begins with the presence of the English in Sanremo. This year the 60th edition of the show will officially take place and will be held in the Flower Market, a large covered area offering ample space for side events. The appointment will be the 19th of April.

Sanremo – EPT – European Poker Tour of Sanremo
The European Poker Tour is back in Sanremo for the second time. From 28th April to 3rd May the most prestigious and “rich” competition of Europe will take place at the Casino of Sanremo after the appointment of Dortmund and before the big final of Monte-Carlo. The appointment places the Casino of Sanremo among the word “capitals” of poker. In June 2008, the Casino of Sanremo has been the first gaming-house of Italy where for the first time a competition of Texas Hold’em Poker has been played.

Piertomaso Tessitore tennis tournament – A.T.P. Challenger Series
The tournament is considered a springboard for the strongest young tennis players from all over the word and will be held at the Sanremo Tennis Club. The final match will be played on the central court. From 2nd to 10th May.

Mondomare Festival
A festival that talks of the sea through theatre, music, readings, conferences, shows and environment. 16th and 17th of May.

Sanremo Olympic Triathlon
The Sanremo triathlon has reached its 10th edition, involving the best athletes in the three disciplines of the competition.  23rd and 24th of May.

Bridge
After the great 2007 success in Antalya (Turkey) the European Open Bridge Championships will be held in Sanremo from 12th to 27th June 2009. The championships will be held according to a new Open formula enabling players of any ability level to register and compete for a medal. There will be tournaments for every taste, divided in categories or mixed. A big celebration for players from all over the world.

The New Italian Cycling Riviera

LONDON March 19, 2009

Sample the best of the Italian Riviera – delicious wines, pasta al pesto, and world-renowned olives – at this gourmet event to launch the grand opening of the Italian Riviera’s first cycling path: Cycling Riviera, Liguria, Italy.

Hosted by Claudio Burlando, president of Regione Liguria and Tullio Russo, president of Area 24, developer of Cycling Riviera, the event promises to be a fantastic introduction to the delights of the Italian Riviera, including an overview of the new eco-friendly cycling path.

The spectacularly beautiful cycle-pedestrian path hugs the picturesque Ligurian coast between Tuscany and the south of France. The first 24km stretch, from Ospedaletti via Sanremo to San Lorenzo al Mare, which opens this year, offers a truly unique Italian Riviera holiday for cycling enthusiasts and families alike.
“With the Mediterranean on one side and the Alps on the other, this new cycle-pedestrian path is one of the most beautiful in Europe, the first on the Italian Sea” says Mr. Burlando, “Almost 2 centuries after the English first discovered this coast, the cycle path will introduce a new generation of UK holiday makers to the delights of Liguria.”

The route, which follows an old railway line, wends through eight historic fishing villages and the glamorous town of Sanremo. It provides access to five kilometres of previously unreachable beaches and an 444.000 sq metres ecological coastal sea park that protects a whale sanctuary.

When finished in 2010, the new Cycling Riviera will stretch for 74km. “This is the first time in Italy we are replacing an old railroad with a cycle/pedestrian path that will create a protected natural environment, car free, and tourist friendly,” said Tullio Russo of Area 24, the Euros30 million public-private partnership that developed the project.

Riviera Cycling offers something for everyone:
* For nature lovers there is the sea park sanctuary with a unique microclimate and flora.
* For those also seeking the glamour of the Riviera, Sanremo is the quintessential destination with its famous casino and designer shops.
* For sports enthusiasts, the path leads you to scuba diving and sailing schools and a new 18-hole golf course.
* For foodies, Liguria produces unique local wines and food, including the famous Taggiasche Olives, Albenga purple asparagus, and Ligurian red prawns.

The path is a cyclist’s dream. Flat and wide, it is perfect for families. For experienced cyclists it offers a gateway to the world-renowned Milano-Sanremo route, and mountain bikers can explore the nearby Maritime Alps.

The English first established this stretch of the Italian Riviera as one of the most fashionable holiday spot in the early 1800s. The extremely temperate climate made it the ideal destination for Europe’s wealthy aristocrats seeking a warm place for winter, a spa cure, or simply a beautiful location with luxuriant vegetation and subtropical gardens.
Queen Victoria and later Winston Churchill holidayed at the Villa Hanbury, 20km from Sanremo. Alfred Nobel spent the last years of his life here.
Today the Italian Riviera takes a new lease of life with the opening of the New Cycling path. It is easy to reach with low-cost airlines flying from the UK to Genoa at one end and Nice at the other. Cycles are available to hire for as little as Euros 5 an hour, and accommodation of all types is offered on the routes.

With universal worries about recession and climate change, the popularity of cycling holidays has increased by 30% (Mintel research on Tourism Trends). This is not only out of respect for the environment but also because it¹s a perfect activity holiday for all ages and especially families.

Western Liguria – the very accessible area between the French border and Genoa- is a relatively undiscovered region of Italy. It offers spectacular coasts and beaches, lots of Italian culture and history, and great local wine and food. It has a unique “eternal spring” micro-climate, which earns it the nickname of the “Costa dei Fiori”and now with the addition of the best cycle path in Italy, it’s a all year round, irresistible new destination.

western riviera

liguria cycling promenade

Sanremo - Ospedaletti : area24

Sanremo Festival

Sanremo is ready to turn into the capital of Italian music once again. From 17th to 21st February at the Ariston Theatre – the temple of music and entertainment – Paolo Bonolis will host the 59th Italian Music Festival. Considered the most important Italian music show, the Festival is a unique opportunity for both famous and emerging singers. As always, the music will be inspired by the flowers of Sanremo and the Bouquet specially created by designers with Riviera flowers.

Sanremo “Corso fiorito” Flower Show

“Sanremoinfiore”, the new edition of the “Corso Fiorito” Flower Show of Sanremo, will be back on 25th January 2009. The theme of this year’s edition will be “Television”.

Fourteen floats dedicated to TV programmes which have made the history of television will take part. The float of the Municipality of Sanremo will be dedicated to its most famous event: the Festival of Sanremo.

2009 Festival of Flowers

From Friday 23rd to Monday 26th January 2009, the Festival of Flowers, the most important Italian display of Riviera flowers and of the best national and international floral designers will be held at Palafiori of Sanremo. The event will offer flower arrangement competitions, shows and standing exhibitions, meetings with floral designers, conventions, in-depth sessions and moments of fun and entertainment where the protagonists will be the Flowers of the Ligurian Riviera. A flower arrangement show where typical features, novelties, research and experimentation will prevail.

The new walking & cycling promenade is now open!

The re-use of the railroad (closed in september 2001) had been promoted already to the beginning of the 1999 from the territorial Plan of the coast, in parallel with the movement to mount, of the railway line from Ospedaletti to San Lorenzo al Mare Area24 was constituted in 2002 as a society of scope for the purchase of the areas of the former railroad. In December 2003 the property of the railroad passed from Ferrovie Real Estate spa to Regione Liguria and subsequently in January 2004 to Area24 and to Comune of Sanremo for the sites situated in its own territory .The re-use of the freed areas is an important strategic occasion for the urban requalification.
Between the previewed initiatives the greater plan is a cycling track.
Currently the jobs of the cycling track are going to be completed between San Lorenzo and Sanremo, beyond the construction of Inter parkings in Taggia and Santo Stefano al Mare. Some features of the track between San Lorenzo and Sanremo was opened in July 2008.

The other proposals, public that private, contemplate the realization of:
sport systems and green public areas

recovery of the access to the sea

the defence and the increase of the surface of useful shoreline to the bathing

realization of structures for the tourist hospitality

trade spaces

improvement of road conditions and local transports

Berlusconi abolishes Italy’s main property tax

As in his promises, our PM abolishes the principal Italian property tax – called  ICI – with the exception of the holiday homes and the Luxury or Villas main residences.

However, another good reason to buy property in Italy…