Soggiorna
On this coast things are almost always kept apart: there is the stone village up the hill and the seaside resort down below, and between them there is a climb. At Albenga there is not. From the station to the free beaches it is 469 metres, about seven minutes on foot, and in the opposite direction, the same distance away, stands one of the best-preserved medieval centres in Liguria.
This is the thing to know before all the others, because it decides who should come here.
The oldest building in Liguria
In the old town there is an early Christian baptistery from the fifth century: octagonal inside, decagonal outside, restored in the late nineteenth century by the architect Alfredo d'Andrade.
That is not a turn of phrase: it is the oldest building still standing in Liguria, and one of the best-preserved baptisteries in Italy. Inside it holds a Trinitarian-Christological mosaic from the same period as the great cycles of Ravenna — the same season, that is, not a later imitation.
If you see one thing at Albenga, it is this.
The hundred towers, and why there are a hundred
Albenga is called the city of a hundred towers for the medieval towers its noble families raised in the thirteenth century. But the interesting fact is not how many there are: it is that, according to tradition, to build one you had to own at least one ship.
The towers were neither decoration nor defence: they were a shipping register stood on end. Anyone looking at the roofs of Albenga is reading the list of families who had a fleet, written in stone and still legible eight hundred years later.
Among those you see while walking: the Torre Peloso Cepolla in piazza San Michele, now part of the Roman Naval Museum; the Torre Oddo on via Roma; the Torre della Paciotta in piazza Trincheri.
The Roman ship
In Palazzo Peloso Cepolla, a seventeenth-century building, is the Roman Naval Museum. It displays material recovered from a Roman cargo ship that sank between 100 and 90 BC off this coast: one of the largest known Roman cargo wrecks in the western Mediterranean.
It is the museum that best survives a visit with teenagers, and it is also the link between the town's two halves: the ship in the museum belonged to the same trade that, thirteen centuries later, earned the right to build a tower.
The detail of what to see is in Albenga: what to see between the old town and the sea.
The sea, which here is sand
The shore runs for nearly a kilometre and a half, with free stretches and serviced ones, and the sand is fine, mixed with gravel.
It is worth saying because it is the difference from almost all the rest of Liguria: here it is not a matter of climbing down among the rocks or finding the one free beach with a tolerable bottom. There is sand, and there is a kilometre and a half of it.
And from whichever stretch you choose you see the same thing in front of you: Gallinara island, a nature reserve, and the reason photographs of Albenga are recognisable.
Who it suits, and who it does not
It suits anyone who wants sea and history without having to choose, and anyone travelling without a car: station, beaches and old town all fall within the same quarter of an hour on foot. It suits families, for the sand and for the shallow water.
It does not suit anyone after the picture-postcard village perched above the sea — that is Cervo, or Bussana Vecchia — nor anyone after glamour: Albenga is a working town with an agricultural plain behind it, not a place built for holidaymaking.
When to go
- May, June and September: the best window. Good sea, an old town you can walk without the heat, lower prices.
- July and August: full, like the whole coast, and the old town at midday is hard work.
- Out of season: the baptistery, the towers and the museum do not depend on the season, and the town keeps going because it does not live on tourism alone.
How long you need
Half a day for the old town with the baptistery and the museum. A full day to add the beach. Two if you also want the island and the luxury of not watching the clock.
Frequently asked questions
What makes Albenga different from other resorts on the riviera?
The distance between its two halves: from the station to the free beaches it is 469 metres, and in the opposite direction, the same distance away, there is one of the best-preserved medieval centres in Liguria. Elsewhere the sea and the historic village are separated by a climb.
What is the oldest building in Liguria?
The early Christian baptistery at Albenga, from the fifth century: octagonal inside and decagonal outside, with a Trinitarian-Christological mosaic contemporary with the great cycles of Ravenna.
Why is Albenga called the city of a hundred towers?
For the towers its noble families built in the thirteenth century. According to tradition, to raise one you had to own at least one ship: the towers are in effect the register of the families who had a fleet.
Are Albenga's beaches sandy?
Yes, for nearly a kilometre and a half, with free and serviced stretches: fine sand mixed with gravel. It is one of the few Ligurian resorts where sand is not the exception.
How long do you need to visit Albenga?
Half a day for the old town with the baptistery and the Roman Naval Museum, a full day adding the beach, two to take it slowly.