Vegas by the Sea: Basking in San Remo

San Remo, the most beautiful and famous city within Liguria, is revered by painters, writers and poets of every genre. It rests within the shimmering Riviera dei Fiori. Surrounded by fragrant flora, lush fauna, gently sloping hills and palm-dotted shores, visitors to San Remo are encompassed within a warm people and a fantastic array of glitzy, gorgeous resorts.

The climate in San Remo is mild year-round, offering the perfect vacation getaway any time of the year. It is, in fact, the most temperate region within the Riviera. Sports are plentiful in San Remo; within one day you can find yourself immersed on freshly carpeted golf courses (some of the finest in the world), shooting a round mini-golf, (for those not ready for the pro circuit -- or a real golf course) and picking up a match or two on any of several new, well-maintained and well-lit tennis courts. It's a small place with a big city feel, and the options are endless.

And they don't end there. For tourists ready to sweat, San Remo offers a multitude of soccer fields, areas maintained solely for target shooting, a day of horseback riding -- even a game of baseball or basketball. Both the resorts and San Remo proper offer indoor and outdoor swimming pools and windsurfing, canoeing, sailing and water-skiing within the glistening azure waters of the Mediterranean.

Throughout the year, visitors to San Remo will often find themselves surprised by world competitions. A bevy of automobile, boating, boxing matches and cycling races are held in San Remo each year. If you're tired of basking in the Italian sun and wish to head indoors, the fun still won't end. If you've ever gambled, a trip to San Remo's world-famous Casino is a necessary stop.

The center of San Remo offers a wide variety of boutiques, dramatic theatres, cinemas and nightclubs. If you're interested in shopping, however, note that shop owners here assume that their glamorous clientele are more interested in the trendy and sexy than the crafty and arty. What you will find are slinky cocktail dresses and bikinis smaller than your pinky -- the classics of high fashion straight from the world's fashion capital, Milan.

Needless to say, today's San Remo is a far cry from that of yesteryear. It first earned its reputation as "The Winter Playground of the Riviera" when Emperor Frederick William spent the winter in a villa there. Soon after, he was joined by Empress Maria Alexandrova (the wife of Czar Alexander II) and the majority of a Russian colony that included the great composer Tchaikovsky. (In fact, it was here in San Remo that he composed his Fourth Symphony in 1878.)

San Remo has history, art, shopping, golf, casinos, friendly people and world-class beaches. Anyone can find something they love here, but if you're looking for something particularly special to complement your trip, many events throughout the year, such as the Festival of the Canzone Italiana (Italian Song), are as much a delight for tourists as they are for the 55,000 locals that inhabit San Remo year-round.