Savona

One of Liguria’s biggest cities with 60 000 inhabitants, Savona’s historic centre is within easy walking distance from the dock.  Attractions include the Pinacoteca Civica Savona, which has an important collection of religious paintings from the 14th to 15th centuries, and two Picassos.

Also known as the city of the popes, being home to Julius II and his uncle Sixtus IV, who built a Sistine Chapel in Savona – renovated in the Rococo style – before overseeing the more famous version in the Vatican, Savona is one of the few Italian cities where you can walk to the beach. Corso Vittorio Veneto is not far from the city centre. Pop into the Priamàr fortress guarding a couple of sculpture museums and the Civico Museo Storico Archeologico en route. Outside the city is the house where Christopher Columbus grew up.