Sanremo: Flowers, Culture, and Cycling
An Historical Jewel of the Riviera dei Fiori
Fifty kilometers east of Europe’s premier gambling capital lies San Remo, Italy’s own Monte Carlo, a sun-dappled Mediterranean resort with a casino, a clutch of ostentatious villas and lashings of Riviera-style grandeur. Beaches aside, San Remo hides the atmospheric lanes of a medieval district called La Pigna.
Known colloquially as the City of Flowers for its colorful summer blooms, San Remo also stages an annual music festival (the supposed inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest) and the world’s longest professional one-day cycling race, the 298km Milan–San Remo classic. During the mid-19th century, the city became a magnet for regal European exiles, such as Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Tsarina Maria Aleksandrovna, who favored the town’s balmy winters. Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel maintained a villa here, and an onion-domed Russian Orthodox church reminiscent of Moscow’s St Basil’s Cathedral still turns heads down by the seafront.
La Pigna
San Remo’s little-visited old town is a labyrinth of quiet, twisting lanes set on a hilltop just above the bustling center. Get there by taking Via Santo Stefano uphill and losing yourself among the cobblestone paths. If you keep ascending, you’ll eventually reach the Giardina Regina Elena, a pine-shaded terrace (with a playground) that has fine views over the town.
City of Flowers
The town is regularly referred to as the ‘city of flowers’, celebrated in San Remo on the last Sunday each March with a procession that includes floats decorated with flowers and accompanying music – a lovely time to visit if you live in a cooler climate and want to see a bit of sunshine, but book your accomodation in advance if visiting the festival because many thousands of others will have the same idea!
At other times of year you can visit the Flower Market, said to be the largest in Italy. Garden enthusiasts will also find several impressive semi-tropical botanical gardens to visit in the vicinity, including those around the villas.
Milan San Remo Classic
The Milan-San Remo, also known as “The Spring Classic”, is an annual one-day cycling race between Milan and San Remo, in Northwest Italy. Traditionally held in March, this is the first classic Monument race of the cycling season.
The first amateur Milan-San Remo race was organized by the Sportive Union of San Remo and held in April 1906. The following year witnessed the inaugural professional Milan-San Remo. Out of 33 entrants that year, only 14 finished, with Frenchman Lucien Petit-Breton claiming first place.
Today, the Milan-San Remo is considered a sprinters’ classic, as its route covers mainly flat terrain. However, this doesn’t make it easy, as it is currently the longest one-day race in professional cycling with a total distance of 298km.
Bussana Vecchia
Bussana Vecchia is a former ghost town in Liguria, Italy. Abandoned due to an earthquake in 1887, it was renovated and repopulated by an international community of artists in the early 1960s. It is administratively a hamlet (frazione) of the city of Sanremo, near the border with France. To this day, it is home to a small group of local inhabitants as well as international artists, with craft shops, cafes, and restaurants, and has over the years gained the reputation of a rural artists’ residence within the setting of a medieval village.
Museo Civico
Housed in a 15th-century palazzo, several rooms in this museum, some with fine frescoed ceilings, display local prehistoric and Roman archaeological finds, paintings and temporary exhibitions. Highlights include Maurizio Carrega’s 1808 homage, Gloria di San Napoleone, and bronze statues by Franco Bargiggia.
Chiesa Russa Ortodossa
Built for the Russian community that followed Tsarina Maria Aleksandrovna (wife of Tsar Alexander II) to San Remo in 1906, the Russian Orthodox church of Cristo Salvatore—with its onion domes and heavenly pale-blue interior – was designed by Alexei Shchusev, who later planned Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow. Icons and murals of Christian saints line the interior, and liturgical services are still held on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings for the Russian expat community.
Villa Nobel
The Moorish Villa Nobel houses a museum dedicated to Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who established the Nobel Prize while living here. At the time of research, the building remained closed for long-term restoration.
Restaurants
A Cuvèa
Top choice in San Remo
This cozy, warmly lit place lined with wine bottles overflows with locals tucking into traditional homemade dishes such as tagliolini with seafood or zimino di seppie (cuttlefish stew); it also has the most genial host in town. The set menus (three courses with water, wine, and coffee for €25) are a fabulous deal, available at lunch and dinner.
Caffè Ducale
Italian panache with a perfectly positioned terrace in front makes this elegant cafe-enoteca-salon de thé one of the most appealing local spots for a coffee or aperitivo (pre-dinner drink). Grab a table in front and linger over tasty paninis, salads, or pasta while watching the city stroll past.
Urbicia Vivas
Basking in a quiet medieval square in San Remo’s remarkable old town, Urbicia is slavishly faithful to old Ligurian recipes, with a strong bias towards seafood. Highlights include ravioli of borage (a Mediterranean herb with a faint cucumber taste), grilled squid with lime and pepper sauce, and spaghetti with clams.