Car Travel

With the freedom of a car, you could drive from one end of the Riviera to the other on the autostrada in about three hours. Two good roads run parallel to each other along the coast of Liguria. Closer to shore and passing through all the towns and villages is the SS1, or Via Aurelia, which was laid out by the ancient Romans and has excellent views at almost every turn. It gets very crowded in July and August. More direct and higher up than SS1 are autostradas A10, west of Genoa, and A12, to the south—engineering wonders with literally hundreds of long tunnels and towering viaducts. These routes save time on weekends, in summer, and on days when festivals slow traffic in some resorts to a standstill.