The Italian Riviera, home to Sanremo (you might know it if for its annual music festival), the port city of Genova and the incomparable Cinque Terre, is a nature-lover’s paradise. The Ligurian Sea lies to the west, the Alpi and Apennine mountains to the east. In between are cities, towns and villages with history, charm and beauty. One of those is Rapallo.

South of Genova (about 30 minutes by car; 55 by train), Rapallo has the added attraction of a funivia (cable car) that carries passengers to the top of a hill not just with panoramic views of the sea and countryside but also with a beautiful and impressive church, the Santuario Basilica di Montallegro. The tram, opened in 1934, is an eight-minute ride with an elevation gain of about 600 meters (1,968 feet). During a recent day trip to Rapallo from Lucca (about a 90-minute drive), a friend and I took the tram after lunch for 8 euros each. I stared with wonder at the intense blue of the sea as we slowly rose over the city, the tiered gardens of residents fortunate enough to have some land and a house (or small villa) on the hillside, and then the lush green treetops as we reached the end of the line.

At the top, a short uphill walk led us to the church, which rose before us almost like an apparition. It is at the top of a wide stone stairway and its handful of spires jut into the cloudless blue sky. It is a remarkable sight, this massive almost-white church in the middle of a forest, towering above a sea.

The Santuario Basilica di Montallegro, along with an accompanying shelter for pilgrims, was built in 1558. (Can you imagine hauling the materials needed to construct it up the hill way back then?) The marble façade that we see today was added in 1896. Inside, the altar sits under a frescoed dome. Massive stained-glass windows portray biblical scenes, and around the church are memorials to loved ones. A side chapel hosts a large presepe that includes an entire village with figurines of workers and others, each with an amazing life-like facial expression.

Outside the church are vistas in every direction – the city of Rapallo, where about 29,000 people live; the sea and its coves; the tree-covered hills; hiking paths. There are a couple of restaurants and a hotel atop the hill, and while I purchased round-trip tram tickets, you can ride to the top and hike your way down if you prefer.

The tram isn’t the only attraction in Rapallo – there is a castle, other interesting churches, lidos to explore, boat rides to take (perhaps to Portofino or another coastal town), and museums to visit. Those will be for another day – and another blog post.   -post by Judy