The Côte d'Azur
La Costa Azzurra: in from Ventimiglia along the Riviera di Ponente, then inland to the Lunigiana and Garfagnana — the door for France.
The fourth door enters Italy where France simply runs out of coast: at Ventimiglia, where the SNCF TER from Nice terminates and the Italian regional network begins. From there the route rides the Riviera di Ponente — Sanremo, then the long curve through Imperia and Savona to Genoa — before making its defining move: it turns inland at La Spezia, away from the Cinque Terre queue, into the castle valleys of the Lunigiana and over to the Garfagnana, finishing on the slow line down to Lucca.
Eight days, all of it on regional trains once you are across the border. Built for travellers starting in Nice, Marseille or Paris: the crossing is a fifty-minute commuter hop, and everything on the Italian side runs on the same regional network our other Doors use.
- 1SanremoRiviera di Ponente · Liguria · Italy2 nightsFind hotels ↗
Cross from Nice by TER (under an hour) and change trains — and rail systems — at Ventimiglia; Sanremo is a few stops on. Two nights for La Pigna's climbing lanes and the Liberty-era seafront.
- 2GenoaLiguria · Italy2 nightsFind hotels ↗
Regionale Veloce along the Ponente coast, about two and a half hours; Intercity does it in just under two. Two nights for the caruggi and the working port.
- 3LunigianaLunigiana · Tuscany · Italy2 nightsFind hotels ↗
Down the coast to La Spezia, then inland on the Parma line — roughly hourly regionali — to Pontremoli. Castles, testaroli, and no queue anywhere.
- 4GarfagnanaGarfagnana · Tuscany · Italy2 nightsFind hotels ↗
Over to Aulla and onto the Garfagnana railway toward Lucca: Equi Terme under the Apuan marble, Castelnuovo, Barga-Gallicano. End in Lucca, one regional hop from Pisa and Florence.
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