Here are my completely biased suggestions for itineraries.
Two days Bussana
The minimum time to get a basic feel for Bussana.
Explore the house, the terrace, and spend the afternoon/ early evening with a walk through town,
Besides enjoing the small streets, see if you may spot the difference between the Fascette (adjacent to the castle, where casajoan is), the steep path up to the Monta (mountain) area, and the top section, Rocche (rocks) where the castle is.The 1887 earthquake did minor damage to the Fascette part, which is the reason that the immigrants of the 1950s and the artists of the 1960s moved there. The major shocks hit the houses near the top of the hill. In the top part you may find the remnants of old watch tower (collapsed in the 1854 earthquake).
Check out the MAP that I created with indications of the sections of town, the streets, and the location of the victims,
Have aperitivo at the Piazetta Golosa (under the marble earthquake remembrance tables), and dinner at the Osteria degli Artisti, or the Casaccia. During peak season, the Piazetta Golosa may also close late (10 pm) so you may also expand the aperitivo with a pasta or other light meal.
Enjoy tea or other drink at the terrace, and watch the area, the quietness, and the stars on a bright night.
If you are a night person, you may opt to stop by at La Barca to see what's going on.
Take your time to wake up the next morning to get into the slow, unhurried tempo of the village. It was for good reasons that slow food was invented in this part of Italy.
Walk the few steps to the Piazetta Goloso for a cappucino, perhaps with a fresh piece of cake, or a brioche con crema.
If it is between May and November, take your swimming trunks (there also should be at least one snorkel mask in the house), and follow the donkey path to Bussana Nuova. Remember that this town was built with the earthquake money that belonged to the inhabitants of old Bussana, and were forced to move there. Check the perfectly lined streets and have look at the huge church that was funded, not necessarily voluntarily, by the grateful survivors of the earthquake.
Continue via the long stairway direct to the beach, or the shorter stairway and the via Aurelia crossing, to the Via Lungomare, and walk along the beach to Arma di Taggia.
If it happens to be Monday, you may want to be in Arma latest by noon, and spend time at the weekly open market.
On any other day, follow the lovers lane to Arma, and conclude that it is already time to have lunch at the Time Cafe or one of the other places along the beach. Top it off with an ice cream from Gelateria 41 next door. Alternatively, you can first walk the few main streets of Arma di Taggia and the local shops before deciding on lunch.
If you are ready for some excercise, spend the afternoon swimming, or rent a bicycle at one of the'noleggio' shops near the center of Arma and bike the afternoon along the pista ciclabile.
In one of the tunnels towards Imperia you'll find stalactites.
Along the coast you'll observer several medieval watch towers that were built to
warn against the annual raids by pirates from the North-African, Barbaric coasts. There were many of these corsairs: Saracene, Tunesian, Algerian, and Moroccan raiders and slave ships were common, well before West-Europeans decided to join this profitable business with their trans-Atlantic slave trade. The raiders also left their DNA in the Ligurian area: in some of the more inland towns you may see Italians with very dark complexion.
Toward the East, you will encounter picturesque Riva Ligure and San Stefano, also good options for lunch, or continue up to the busy town of Imperia, with a nice old town, old harbor, the first (Agnesi) pasta factory in the world, and many beach bars and restaurants.
Alternatively, you can head West for a (shorter) ride to Sanremo, which is more compact than Imperia, and still has a flavor of the rich days in the early part of the last century, when many English gentleman and ladies
spent the colder months in this pleasant climate ("because their hair stayed better in shape than in England")..
Sanremo has multiple places to get refreshments, and if you happen to be there in the early evening, consider walking to the old harbor, Porto Vecchio, to taste the excellent freshly fried fish of the Solo La Lisca fishing boat (see the food section) and try a piece of Farinata from one of the small bakeries.
Find your way back to Arma, where you can have dinner at one of the restaurants in the food section, or shop for some food in town or at the Carrefour and walk up to Bussana Vecchia to prepare your own meal.
The next morning, head for the Piazetta Golosa to repeat the breakfast/cappucino procedure. If you travel with children: most bars in Italy make a foamed milk with cocoa, without the coffee part.
Four or more days Bussana
The
easiest way to pass four days in Bussana is to repeat the two-day program. This will bring you closer to the dolce-far-niente experience.
Day three may be similar to day two: a leasurely stroll to the beach and further exploration of Bussana. You may op to walk the other donkey path to Arma di Taggia, which end at the Conad supermarket.
Every few days we take a day to further explore the area. For example, to take a short trip into the lower Alps. If you have a car, drive to the old town or Taggia, admire the medieval center and the sixth/seventh century Roman bridge, and continue the valle Argentina road towards Badalucco.
Next to the (only) fuel station in town is a bar where most of the population will stop by at some point in the day. Next to the bar is the popular ice cream shop in town.
If you're more adventurous, continue into the valley towards Molini di Triora, and the witch town of Triora on the hill above.
Many years ago, there were plans to turn part of the Argenina valley into a lake. Construction had already started, but locals were able to block these plans. This is the reason that there are two roads from Badalucco to Molini: a new, high road, and the old low road. Take the low road back to Badalucco. Along this road, there are several spots used by locals to swim in the natural pools of the Argentina river.
Consider trying the famous mushroom lunc or dinner at Ca'Mea restaurant (just outside Badalucco). During peak season you will need to make reservations. Along the road you will also find several Taggiasca olive oil producers: ROI, just before Badalucco, and Panizzi in town. They allow olive oil tasting, and be sure to sample several blends. Some are better for cooking, other are aimed for use on salads, and taste the difference between these blends and the 100% Taggiasca.
We always buy our olive oil at the Olio Salva shop (near the Arma via Aurelia roundabout with the big steel olives), and we prefer the Mosto blend over the 100% Taggiasca, primarily because we want to use it to dip our bread, but also for cooking and in salads.
Another option is the valle Armea, immediately West of the Bussana hill. Drive either from the via Aurelia or from the valle Armea road up to the Poggio hill (where the Milan - Sanremo bicycle race is often decided), and continue into old Ceriana. Also here you'll find several olive oil producers. Continue from Ceriana on a curved road to the 7th century druid town of Bajardo, to admire the view over the French Mercantour mountains from the old church on the mountain top, and lunch at Jolanda restaurant (the others are also good).
If you enjoy driving these mountains, you can make a roundtrip complete by continuing from Bajardo towards Vignai and Badalucco (or vice versa) or, more adventurous, to Castel Vittorio (home of the Osteria del Portico) and colle Langan into Molini / Triora. Third option is to drive to San Romolo and follow the road into Sanremo.
Depending on the time of year there are several festivities that are worth visiting, such as the town dinner in Montalto in summer, the St. Erasmo festival and fireworks in Arma (last Sunday July), the reenactment ot the battle of Savoi at Taggia in February, or the Stoccafisso (air dried cod or halibut, without salt) festival in Badalucco in September, to commemorate that the town survived a siege by the Saracenes of multiple weeks in medieval times thanks to the stockfish they had bought from the Normans.
Other suggestions:
- a daytrip to Nice
is always fun, and can be done by train;
- a daytrip to the Esterel red rock coast, near Frejus;
The highway trip will be about 1h45. Drive to St-Raphael and follow the coastal road. The red-rock area is between Agay and Theoule sur Mer. Don't bother to expand your trip to Saint-Tropez. It has been completely destroyed by cheap tourism.
- Piemonte:
Take the road from Imperia to Colle di Nava, Garessio, and pretty town of Ceva (about 2 hours drive). Take the SS28 to the humongous Santuario de Vicoforte, and continue via the small towns of Mondovi and Fossana to Saluzzo. There are several very nice hotels in the town of Saluzzo with decent prices, allowing you to walk around the afternoon and have dinner at one of the many restaurants. Our alternative is to stay at the Castello Rosso castle-hotel at Costigliole Saluzzo.
Continue along the feet of the Alps to Pinerolo, and then head through the flatland of the for the Stupinigi Palace just South of Torino.
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La Morra, home of the famous Piemonte Barolo wines.
Just outside La Morra you'll find Santa Margarita della Morro, with the excellent Osteria del Vignaiolo. Besides the spectacular local food, the wines, and the view over the vineyards, they have a handful of basic bedrooms so that you do not have to drave after dinner. Advance reservations are required to make sure they have a room available.