Liguria

Liguria is the Italian coast from the French border to La Spezia, with more known Genoa, Portofino and Cinque Terre in between. We chose to stay in this region for about 4 days, doing nothing. Initially, we were looking for a resort on a shore, with everything you might need inside it, including a semi-private beach (again, crowds avoiding mode), and not far from either Portofino or La Spezia, to be able to do a half day tour to Cinque Terre and see a little of the historical towns. If you have more time and energy than we did, I’d make separate trips to Lucca, Florence and Pisa while having a “base” in Tuscany, and then Portofino and Cinque Terre in Liguria. There are also some beaches available only by hike, like Punta Pineda, winery tours and the local Cinque Terre wine is actually amazing. I suggest you check on Airbnb experiences to see what’s available during your time of visiting.

Due to our last-minute planning and the region still being in high season, we couldn’t find a hotel we liked in our budget and with beach access, but then we stumbled upon Villa Riviera and I can’t recommend it more. Funny, not the sexiest IG and website, again. But my oh my, we ended up staying at the hotel most days, it has an amazing open-air spa with saunas, jacuzzi, massages, heated infinity pool with salted water (in case you come off-season, which I recommend), absolutely magnificent views, generally stunning grounds, two great restaurants, a bar. Honestly, I think that’s what babymoon should be like, not running around like I was trying to some days. We also got randomly upgraded and asked for a room with a bathtub (helps my muscles), and the suite had a separate room with only a bathtub and the best view one could ask for - pregnant women dream. Honestly, I was impressed with how they renovated once a monastery building, and made it a hotel. The breakfast was our favorite routine, though there are some photos of it, they don’t transmit how to felt, that view, the serving, the light, it just set the flow of your whole day. I have tons of videos that would help, and I’ll share them on IG at some point. Keep in mind that they have two buildings, one is slightly older and not as contemporary or well designed as the one we stayed at, and that driving there is a challenge, like most Italian mountain roads are - one lane for two-way traffic and serpentine. The only time we went out, was a Cinque Terre boat tour. You can book it either through Airbnb Experiences or through the hotel. We did the latter and got a private couple-hour tour through all 5 towns and a bit of a swim time, far from public beaches. I wish I had taken more photos, but my focus was solely on enjoying our time and relaxing, so here is a mix of camera and iPhone shots with mainly aesthetics and food, the things I personally enjoy the most, lol.