I’ve been to Noli (Liguria area in Italy) 2 years ago at the recommendation of some of my friends and I loved it. Of course I loved it, otherwise I would definitely not recommend it to you:)
It’s in Italy, my favourite place in the world (so far at least) and it’s at the seaside, perfect for the a long summer weekend, especially if you travel from the neighbouring countries (France or Switzerland). For the ones travelling from other places in the world, you can choose one of the airports nearby and combine some days at the beach with some visiting (of the Piemonte area) or even Cinquettere. It can also be an option for lodging if you want to visit the posh cities of Monte Carlo or Nice.
Noli is a small, but charming town with not so many tourists (the existing ones being Italians anyway), not crowded at all so that you can relax and enjoy some good quality time. If you still want to see something different, you can travel around, Portofino is only 1hour and a half driving distance and the same is Nice.
Ca’ de Tobia is the ideal place to choose for lodging; an enchanting boutique hotel, with a relatively small number of rooms, so that it gives you the impression that you are in your own house. It’s located very convenient right in the middle of the town, with the sea right across the street. And I mean it, the beach was just across the street, which was great as it takes 2 min from your room to the sun bed.
It’s a lovely place, nicely decorated, with a lot of good taste & attention to details. The rooms are very spacious, with comfy bed & a big wardrobe to arrange your stuff (in the end you need to feel like home).
At the reception there is a very nice seating areas, where you can relax and read the books about the region while chatting with Andrea, the host. In the morning, the breakfast is served in the upper part of the house on the terrace. There is space also inside if you prefer a bit of shadow or if the weather is not so good (hope that it will not be the case). Fresh fruits, pastries & home made cakes, yoghurts, coffee & fresh juice are all available so that you can have a good start of the day.
Everything is in walking distance from Ca’ de Tobia, so once you got there, you can forget about taking the car. Or you can even take the bikes Andrea provides and go around a bit, why not?
Definitely not to be missed in Noli – the best icecream in the world, it’s so soft and the cone is sooooo tasty and they have quite a good range of flavours. Make sure you go there during the day as in the evenings everybody goes out and there are always at least 10 people queuing.
There are quite a lot of restaurants given the size of the town, so there will be no issue to find something on your taste. There is also a one starred Michelin fish restaurant, with delicious food and not that expensive & pretentious for this kind of restaurant (link at the end of the article).
Travel with passion and enjoy every moment of your trip!
http://www.cadetobia.it/services.php
http://www.hotelvescovado.it/en/ristorante.php
Looks great! What’s better than a hotel which is close to a ice cream shop? Gelato in Italy is just amazing!