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Bordighera - the Italian Riviera<br />
& Monte Carlo<br />
8 days from £879 April, May, June & September<br />
The sun-seeking British of the 19th century left their mark all along<br />
the Riviera but perhaps nowhere more so than in the Italian town of<br />
Bordighera – famous for its perfect climate, seafront promenade, and<br />
palm trees. It was also a favourite resort of Claude Monet who stayed ten<br />
weeks here and painted thirty-five landscapes in Bordighera and the<br />
neighbouring hills. Just a few miles along the coast we find two more<br />
popular British haunts – Monte Carlo and Nice.<br />
• 7 nights hb in Bordighera • Excursion to Taggia and San Remo<br />
• Excursion to Monte Carlo • Excursion to Dolceacqua • Walking tour of<br />
Bordighera<br />
Also available will be an optional<br />
excursion to the Villa Rothschild, with<br />
its superb gardens, and Nice, with its<br />
famous ‘Promenade des Anglais’. You<br />
travel along the spectacular lower<br />
corniche passing Beaulieu to the Villa<br />
Ephrussi de Rothschild located on Cap-<br />
Ferrat. The Italianate, pink-coloured<br />
property is luxuriously furnished, has<br />
splendid sea views and is encircled by<br />
no less than nine splendid gardens,<br />
each following a different theme. After<br />
your visit, you continue to Nice for lunch<br />
and free time, returning to the hotel<br />
via the even more spectacular middle<br />
corniche in the late afternoon.<br />
Other days: Free to enjoy the delights of<br />
Bordighera as others have done in the<br />
past. Your hotel is handily situated for<br />
the station, with services to Ventimiglia,<br />
and to San Remo and beyond. On<br />
Thursday there is a market on the<br />
seafront near the hotel. There are also<br />
local bus services.<br />
DAY EIGHT: Free time until you depart<br />
for the airport. Dependent on traffic<br />
conditions and flight timings, there may<br />
be time for some last-minute shopping<br />
in Nice en route.<br />
PROGRAMME<br />
DAY ONE: Flight to Nice and<br />
transfer to your hotel (45-minutes) in<br />
Bordighera for seven nights half board<br />
accommodation.<br />
Bordighera is a pleasant, typically<br />
Ligurian seaside town with a superb<br />
pedestrianized promenade. Walking<br />
through the town you become aware<br />
of its British connection with signs to<br />
the Museo Biblioteca Bicknell or to the<br />
Giardini Lowe. These are echoes of a<br />
past when British visitors outnumbered<br />
the locals by 3 to 2 and had their own<br />
Anglican church, tennis club, theatre,<br />
weekly newspaper, banks and shops. As<br />
well as for its idyllic scenery and climate,<br />
Bordighera is noted for the palm trees<br />
along the Lungomare (Promenade)<br />
from which the Vatican selects its palms<br />
for Palm Sunday.<br />
DAYS TWO TO SEVEN: On Day 2 there<br />
is a late morning walking tour pointing<br />
out the highlights of the town. Free in<br />
resort with three included excursions.<br />
The first included excursion will be to<br />
Taggia, another example of a Ligurian<br />
old town, and San Remo, the ‘Pearl<br />
of the Riviera of Flowers’, with its old<br />
centre, impressive villas and pleasant<br />
market area.<br />
The second included excursion will be<br />
to Monte Carlo. No holiday to the Riviera<br />
would be complete without a visit to<br />
the Principality of Monaco. This little<br />
country is divided into four areas, only<br />
one of which is truly ‘Monte Carlo’, with<br />
its plush hotels and fin-de-siecle Casino<br />
(try and break the bank if you wish,<br />
but we don’t recommend it!). Along<br />
the harbour-side, where the Grand<br />
Prix cars race each May, are yachts of<br />
incredible opulence; and on the rock<br />
above is the Palace where Grace Kelly<br />
lived with Prince Rainier and where<br />
they still ‘change the guard’ daily. There<br />
is also the Jardin Exotique (entrance<br />
not included) where the 2400 hours<br />
of yearly sunshine allow exotic plants<br />
and cacti to flourish, and also a fine<br />
Oceanographic Museum.<br />
The third included excursion is to<br />
the Nervia Valley. You drive through<br />
Camporosso, a pretty village, and stop<br />
in medieval Dolceaqua, dominated by<br />
the Dorias’ Castle. The bridge, over the<br />
Nervia river, was painted by Monet in<br />
1884. You will visit the ‘Visionarium’ –<br />
it will surprise you, we promise! You<br />
continue up the valley to Pigna, a pretty<br />
mountain village.<br />
YOUR HOTEL<br />
HOTEL PARIGI HHHH,<br />
Bordighera (seven nights)<br />
This comfortable hotel is family-run<br />
and stands right on the seafront<br />
promenade, just a short stroll from the<br />
town centre. Rooms have flatscreen<br />
tv with satellite channels, airconditioning,<br />
private bath or shower,<br />
wc and hairdryer. Although the railway<br />
line passes 20 metres behind the hotel,<br />
there are very few trains overnight and<br />
in any case rooms are double-glazed.<br />
The holiday price is based on hill view<br />
rooms. Side and full sea view rooms<br />
are available at a supplement. (www.<br />
hotelparigi.com). Free one-hour session<br />
in the hotel wellness centre.<br />
A WALKING HOLIDAY is also available<br />
from this hotel. Please ask for a copy<br />
of our Walking <strong>Holidays</strong> brochure or<br />
visit preferredts.com.<br />
18 | www.preferredts.com Please refer to the enclosed ‘Dates and Flight Information’ for details of departure dates, prices and flights.