First-Class Italian Riviera & Portofino

We meet at London St Pancras, where we join the Eurostar service to Paris. Enroute, we enjoy a light meal at our seats as we travel to the French capital. Here, we change trains and continue on a scenic rail journey through France, crossing the Alps on our way to Turin.

This important, modern city in northern Italy, also showcases Baroque, Renaissance and contemporary architecture. On arrival, we transfer by coach to our overnight hotel. This evening, we have our first dinner together.

• Eurostar light meal
• Dinner

After our first breakfast in Italy, there is free time to explore Turin. Fringed by the Alps, the city's wide boulevards and grand public squares are lined with cafés and bars.

In the mid-afternoon, we continue our journey by rail. From Genoa, the route clings to the coastline, disappearing through tunnels and reappearing on serene marine views, traversing viaducts over colourful towns, and giving us a preview of this beautiful stretch of coast.

From Chiavari, a short coach ride transfers us to Sestri Levante, our home for the week. The town is set on a peninsula overlooking the glittering Mediterranean and surrounded by two attractive bays. On arrival, we check in to our customer-favourite hotel in the Old Town, next to the Bay of Fairytales. Owned by the Cerruti family for more than 50 years, we can look forward to friendly and attentive service in this charming hotel, where we enjoy dinner this evening.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Waking up on the Italian Riviera, you are free to explore Sestri Levante, or Sestri as the locals call it, at your own pace today or unwind at our hotel. Known as the 'town of two bays', this laid-back coastal town has a historic old town, where classical Italian buildings line the narrow, cobbled streets known as caruggi. Near our hotel is the Basilica Santa Maria di Nazareth, a Renaissance church with remarkable frescoes and ornate decorations.

The Bay of Fairytales is named for Hans Christian Andersen who once lived in Sestri. Palms and umbrella pines shelter the attractive promenade on the edge of a long sandy beach with views of Chiavari in the distance.

On the other side is the Bay of Silence, also known as Portobello. This is considered one of the best sandy beaches in Italy and is a great spot for a stroll or to relax. The town has many cafés, bars and restaurants you could visit for lunch or dinner - maybe to sample the catch of the day, relax with an Aperol Spritz or a gelato.

• Breakfast

Three of the picturesque Cinque Terre villages are explored by land and sea today. The villages date from around the 11th and 12th centuries when residents from inland settled on this 10-mile stretch of the Ligurian coast, where vines and olives could be grown easily.

We set off by train with a local guide to Riomaggiore, the southernmost of the villages. Here, tall, colourful buildings sweep down a steep hill to a small harbour and an emerald bay, with terraces of olive groves above. There is some time to explore before sailing to the next location, viewing Manarola and Corniglia enroute. Vernazza has a 10th-century tower, a piazza and cobbled streets lined by quaint cafes, where you are free to explore.

Our next stop is Monterosso, the flatter and larger of the five villages, where a spacious piazza leads onto streets with many restaurants and bars. Known for its lemon trees, anchovies and sandy beach, there is time to look around and grab lunch before we travel back to Sestri by rail in time for dinner.

• Breakfast, Dinner

A cruise to Portofino awaits after breakfast as we explore this picturesque fishing village that has long attracted the glamorous and elite.

Set in a natural harbour dotted with fishing boats and yachts, above are olive groves and Mediterranean pines. An array of buildings painted terracotta, peach and yellow gather around a piazza, with floral terraces cascading from above. Our guide shows us around and we have lunch in a restaurant, with views across the harbour.

Afterwards, we sail to San Fruttuoso. This cove is only accessible by foot or boat and is dominated by a 10th-century Benedictine abbey. Overlooking the abbey is a 16th-century tower, nestled in the wooded hillsides that encircle the bay. Submerged in the bay is the underwater statue of 'Christ in the Abyss', which is said to protect local sailors. There is time here to explore the museum - which has free entry for National Trust members - or simply soak up the ambience before returning to Rapallo and then driving back to Sestri.

Please note: if weather conditions mean the boat can't land at San Fruttuoso, we visit Santa Margherita instead, a tranquil village with old-fashioned Italian charm.

• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today is a chance to explore the beautiful Italian Riviera independently. Sestri Levante is on the main coastal rail line, and you could catch the train to nearby Chiavari.

With shops, cafés and appetising cake shops in the arcaded streets, this attractive town also has a historic centre to explore. The cathedral here was constructed in the 17th century after the miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary, but its entrance was added 200 years later in a style inspired by the Roman Pantheon. Enjoy a walk along the promenade or visit the botanical gardens at Villa Rocca.

Further north, the town of Rapallo with a palm-lined promenade, has been an attractive destination for literary figures since the 1800s. Restaurants in both towns serve Ligurian specialities, that you could enjoy this evening, such as traditional pasta dishes, including filled pansoti in a walnut sauce, which can be enjoyed with a glass of the locally produced Vermentino white wine.

• Breakfast

After breakfast, we take the train to Liguria's capital, Genoa. A journey along the coast brings us straight to the heart of this ancient port, one of Italy's great cities.

A knowledgeable guide takes us on a walking tour of the old town that includes the Doge's Palace, an impressive Renaissance building, and explains why Genoa has the nickname 'La Superba'. As the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Genoa is a treasure trove of history, art and grand palaces, and you can savour great views of the city after taking the lift at Castelleto Levante. Later, you could relax at a waterfront café or restaurant with a glass of chilled Italian wine and a local lunch.

Returning to Sestri Levante, we head to a nearby trattoria and discover how to make pesto, following a traditional Genoese recipe, before sitting down to a dinner of pasta and local specialities. The aroma of basil is always present in Italy, radiating from market stalls and window boxes, and this fragrant herb is mixed with pecorino cheese, pine nuts, olive oil and garlic to make pesto Genovese.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Today we catch the train to the fishing village of Camogli. While Portofino and the Cinque Terre may be the headline acts, Camogli quietly impresses with its pastel-hued and ornate buildings overlooking a bay and a harbour beside its 12th-century church. A warren of alleyways and arcades connect the harbourside to the beach, and - with waterfront piazzas creating a sense of connection to the water - there is an air of an undiscovered Venice about Camogli.

A guide shows us around this characterful port village and informs us of its maritime past when Camogli became known as 'the city of a thousand white sailing ships'. We see the remains of the 14th-century Dragonara Castle, constructed to protect the village. After our tour, you have free time to soak up Camogli's atmosphere and charm. You could indulge in lunch in one of the village's lovely restaurants, perhaps enjoying a spaghetti vongole with a chilled glass of white wine.

Leaving Camogli in the late afternoon, we return by train to Sestri Levante before enjoying our final dinner on the Italian Riviera.

• Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, we leave Sestri Levante and the Italian Riviera by train, on a route which takes us all the way around the coastal arch of the Ligurian Sea through Genoa to Ventimiglia. Passing seaside towns, this route is rarely far from the glistening sea.

Entering France, we make our way to the Côte d'Azur resort of Saint-Raphaël, where we check in to our hotel overlooking the marina.

• Breakfast, Dinner

Your tour has taken in the villages and towns of the Italian Riviera, with their pastel-coloured houses, sparkling sea and laid-back charm. Added to which, we've sampled a flavour of the French Riviera.

Leaving Saint-Raphaël in the morning, we board the train and journey through France, passing alongside the sun-kissed coast as we travel up the Rhône to Lyon, through Burgundy to Paris. In the French capital, we transfer to the Eurostar for the final leg of our journey and arrive back at London this evening.

• Breakfast
• Eurostar light meal