But you might be surprised and delighted by the less well known but ever glamorous Santa Margherita Ligure or as the locals call it Santa.

In many ways, it's every bit as impressive as the more famous sites such as Portofino and Chin.

And in some ways, it's even better.

It's a little bit less touristic than many.

So it offers an authentic slice of Italian life as you'll see the main Piazza as usual is the center of life in the city.

There are just locals, there's families, there's young couples out eating and drinking, having a good time.

Here's an example, all of the low prices and warm hospitality of the area with this spritz and all the snacks that came with it for just €6.

You pay for the drink and the snacks are free.

And there's a big supply of hotels and restaurants which are a bit less expensive than in the more famous places of the region.

Mostly locals out today.

We were here in the office season in October.

So we had nice weather and the town was not crowded, easy to get a table at a restaurant and always lots of things to keep us busy exploring the little pedestrian lanes.

Piazzas and the waterfront of this charming city.

In that casual Italian style, the laundry hangs out the window even on the main piazza and notice the paintings on the building.

It looks like three dimensional carvings, but it's all painted on in exquisite detail to trick the eye.

It's a Trump Loy kind of effect making the buildings look stately and elegant even with the laundry hanging in front.

And there is no graffiti which is quite remarkable for an Italian city.

The people here take very good care of their buildings and of each other like this little brother, bringing his big sister a drink.

The scene with the kids having fun and the local townspeople walking around is just an example of how Santa Margherita Lire is really a local place.

It's less of a touristic spot and more of a authentic Italian small town experience.

It's a safe place.

It's a friendly place and yet it has a good variety of shops and restaurants and hotels that can really take care of.

The visitor extending directly in from the Piazza are the two main pedestrian lanes of town via Cavor and via Pesto.

And they are lined with shops and restaurants and cafes and lots of people out for a stroll, especially now in late afternoon, it's the Pasa Giaa a time honored tradition in which nearly the whole town participates out for a stroll, but it's not just any old walk.

It's more of an art form.

People are not necessarily shopping or going anywhere in particular.

It's a leisurely stroll to see their friends and see who's wearing what and maybe stop for a chat.

It's an expression of the feeling of having plenty of time with leisure and ease in a relaxing way.

Something Italians learned to do from an early age, you are going to see more of these pedestrian lanes and restaurants in the area near the Piazza later in the program.

But for now, we're going down to the waterfront and take a stroll along the esplanade, a very popular gathering spot for the locals of all ages.

It seems to be lined with fully occupied benches from one end to the other set amidst this beautiful green park and there's the sea wall, there's the marina with the boats off in the distance kids out playing.

It's just a great spot to hang out.

It looks like they're getting a little stage ready for a performance.

There are quite a few concerts and outdoor music festivals that happen throughout the year here in Santa Margarita Ligo, including occasional music recitals on the upper terrace of this castle that was built in 1550 as a defense against pirates.

Further along the waterfront.

You are going to see lots of boats of all kinds and there is a beach.

It's a pebble beach but quite popular, especially in the summertime.

And there's a heroic statue in the waterfront of Christopher Columbus who is from Genoa just 20 miles away.

He probably stopped here on one of his shorter boat rides.

We are located in the northwest of Italy along the Ligurian coast, often called the Italian Riviera with direct train connections to Genoa and also Cinque Terre providing convenient access with its affordable hotels and many delightful attractions.

Santa Margarita makes a good place to stay when you visit sitting Portofino just three miles away.

And Cinque Terre easily reached in a one hour train ride.

We have other videos about those two places which are wonderful to visit and we've got two other movies about Santa Margarita.

But this program is different, focusing more on the people.

Piazzas, pedestrian lanes and the waterfront.

Many visitors to Santa Margarita arrive by rail.

The train station is located right in the town itself.

And so if you're traveling light, you could most likely just walk from the train station to your hotel.

Most of the hotels are within a half a mile or at most one mile away.

But in our case, traveling with a small group, we had luggage, so we had a van take it over to the hotel for us and then we proceeded to walk.

As you'll see, it's only about a five minute walk to get into the center of town from here.

From the station, you can walk right down to the waterfront and walk 500 m.

That will bring you to the main piazza that we saw earlier and then continue walking to the other side of town about 600 m further.

That'll bring you right alongside the marina and an interesting commercial area with shops and restaurants that we're going to explore with you.

Right now.

This side of the city has a much different character because it's really oriented towards the waterfront.

With the marina, the harbor out there, no beach or swimming on this side.

There's a lovely promenade that runs along the shore and a street with a lot of bars and restaurants, but no pedestrian zone extending inland.

It has an authentic nautical charm and some out of the way restaurants that cater more to locals, especially nice with the view of the waterfront from your table.

It's a rather busy two lane street with no official parking spaces, just some room for scooters along the edge.

And on the harbor side, it has a nice wide sidewalk with tables and benches and people out strolling cafe.

Del Porto is a historical restaurant facing the harbor, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can have coffee, champagne, pick from their extensive wine list or have a beer.

They provide a relaxed atmosphere where you can just sit back and read your newspaper or have a conversation with the waitress.

They offer take away food so you could cross the street with it and have a seat with the view of the marina.

The city extends inland for several blocks and you can see on that sign, there are some restaurants and hotels back here, it's mostly a residential neighborhood, not a prime area for the visitor to explore.

But I thought I'd take a look anyway and see what's happening back here.

The architecture is rather plain but typical and traditional of the region and there are some arcades that were intriguing leading into a little piazza.

Again note the painted walls with the illusion of three dimensions.

A walk through was mildly entertaining, but the main action is happening out along the street.

It's the road to Portofino which is only about three miles away.

You could take a city bus or you could even walk it.

The tables on this side are across the street from their restaurant.

So the waiters have to walk through traffic to bring your food and drinks to you.

This south end of town by the waterfront is a little bit more for the locals rather than the visitors.

But you can see this is definitely worth walking down to get away from the main tourist center by the that main piazza we saw earlier and come on over.

It's only about 600 m away, easy to get here, walk around.

You might see the fishermen bringing in the day's catch to the local customers on the dock, there is a charming waterfront park and promenade with benches and landscaping beautiful palm trees, statues and fountains.

It's a safe place for the local biker gang to hang out.

Just be careful not to get in their way.

The waterfront is a center of social life like an outdoor living room.

It's a place to relax or to kick a soccer ball around and it's a venue for book shows and events associated with competitions such as the half marathon.

I'll show you more of the harbor at sunrise later.

But now we're going back inland to see some restaurants just across from the waterfront, starting with a row of very popular pizzerias with delicious food and a casual atmosphere and mostly local customers.

When they say pizzeria, it usually means a full service restaurant with all sorts of fresh pasta and meats and fish and salads and pizza.

Notice how busy this place is and yet everybody is being very well taken care of with food and drinks on all the tables.

It was the most popular restaurant in town, the name of the restaurant and you're very busy.

Always busy always and dogs are always welcome.

It's that kind of an excellent restaurant with atmosphere and great food and decent prices that you'll want to go back here several times in your visit.

Even if you're just in town for three nights, maybe have three meals, they've got a big menu.

That's if you can get a table otherwise you have two other excellent choices on the same block right next door.

There's Emilio's Ristorante Pizzeria and they too were excellent.

This is where I was able to get in and had a wonderful meal.

I was looking for restaurants up in the pedestrian zone instead of here along this busy roadway thinking that, oh, in the pedestrian zone, the atmosphere would be more charming and, and it is, we'll take you there next.

But these three places including Palma next to Emilio were all excellent.

Then we'll continue back to that main piazza and pedestrian lanes where we started the program.

We'll do some more people watching, have a look at the shops.

Enjoy the ambiance.

This town really is one of the jewels of the Italian Riviera.

And while it might not be the gilded and glamorous jet set spot of some other famous Italian towns, it's just as good as any of them.

You'll find a restful tranquility in this old fashioned kind of resort not smothered by tourism and to complete our walk through this wonderful pedestrian zone.

I'll bring you to my personal favorite restaurant in the city where I enjoyed a lovely meal with my group.

We've been traveling together for three weeks, starting from our homes in Hawaii and flying to Barcelona and then traveling through the south of France by train, enjoying many fine restaurants along the way.

So nice for me to be back again.

How many years before you are very welcome, dear friend.

They invited me back into the kitchen once again as they did in my previous visit to say hello to the Chef Mile.

It's a family owned and operated restaurant.

Mussels are one of the specialties here along with the red gamba shrimp, lightly cooked and peeled.

A light pasta with lobster ato with the daughters managing and serving the food.

Maybe try grilled calamari or scallopini marsala and sitting out on the piazza with friends makes the experience perfect.

Our friendly waiter, Bush was happy to not only bring the food promptly but explain what we're getting and then to top it all off, some people had room for a Panna Cotta dessert and it's time to call it a night.

Thank you very much Mr Bush.

You again take care the next morning I was greeted with a view of sunrise from my hotel room.

Looking out across the marina as you can see the sunrise view is particularly attractive.

It's not that often that you can enjoy such a sight right out in front of your hotel.

So you should take advantage and wake up early to catch the light show, especially with the beautiful lighting over the tranquil boat harbor here and then you can have a leisurely breakfast at your hotel starting usually from about 7 a.m. We were staying at the Lauren Hotel.

It's four stars and it's right on the waterfront great location just 100 m away from the center of town where you've got all the restaurants and the Piazza, the pedestrian lanes and the Pasa Giaa.

In the evening, the hotel breakfast is just what you would hope to find in a very nice four star hotel in Italy.

A big spread there with your cold cuts, your meats and cheeses.

There's rolls and fruits, of course, there's yogurts and coffee, fresh brewed coffee cappuccino.

There's different kinds of beverages available and it's a very nice setting.

We have tables with a view looking out at the waterfront just right across the street, just ideal.

The large marina and harbor is dotted with lots of sailboats and sleek motor boats.

And there are some working fishing boats as well, pleasure craft of various kinds and charter excursion boats and ferry boats that regularly bring passengers back and forth along the coastline in the season.

Not so much passenger traffic like that in the winter, but during the summertime and spring and fall, you can take a boat from here over to Portofino.

It's very close.

It just takes 15 minutes to get there.

The waterfront has always been important to this town which got started thousands of years ago as a small fishing village.

Then it became more of a trading center.

It was attacked by the Saracens in the 10th century.

It was attacked by Venice in the 14 hundreds and it was acquired by the Republic of Genoa until Napoleon arrived in 1812 and renamed it Porto Napoleone.

He built the road along the coast to Portofino.

Already, some wealthy families from Genoa had been building their luxurious summer residences here, grand stately homes.

And by the early 18 hundreds foreigners began arriving as visitors, especially English people who were charmed by the climate, the sea and nature and began arriving in large numbers which changed the character of the coast.

By the mid 19 th century, Santa had become a similar to the very popular thermal spas of the day.

But in this case, it was the ocean bathwater spa that consisted of rapid immersion in the water, a quick dip, no swimming, no sun bathing.

It was just considered to be a medical treatment that was good for your health.

In those days, travel was for the very wealthy who enjoyed luxurious facilities of villas and exclusive hotels and social clubs.

This all started to change with the growth of tourism brought on by the railroad which came here in 1868.

And more hotels began to flourish.

By the early 20th century, tourism had established itself as the main economic activity.

Tourism greatly increased with an expanded road system that enabled growing use of the automobile and was further accelerated with transcontinental flights.

The 19 thirties was a golden age for Santa with an elitist environment, large numbers of visitors taking longer stays including many famous Hollywood entertainers such as Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart Lauren Bacall, Yves, Montan and Simons in our modern era with increased competition from hundreds of other places that became easily accessible and mass tourism became based on shorter visits.

The glow of Santa diminished, but it has retained its elegantly retro charm with an unspoiled beauty.

This visit to Santa Margarita Ligo is part of our larger tour that also visits Portofino and Cinque Terre and we have many more episodes showing you those wonderful places providing an in depth.