{"id":53492,"date":"2026-09-30T16:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T16:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darkseagreen-rook-345411.hostingersite.com\/liguria\/loano\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T07:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:08:28","slug":"loano","status":"publish","type":"localita","link":"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/en\/riviera-di-ponente\/loano\/","title":{"rendered":"Loano"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loano is a seaside town on the Riviera di Ponente, the western half of the Italian Riviera, in the province of Savona, between Pietra Ligure and Borghetto Santo Spirito. It has around 10,700 residents, almost two kilometres of sand-and-shingle beach, a palm-lined promenade close to three kilometres long and a large marina with about a thousand berths. It is built for easy family holidays: the sea gets deep slowly, the beach clubs are well equipped and everything is within walking distance.<\/p>\n

Behind the seafront is an old town with more history than most visitors expect. From 1263 Loano was a fief of the Doria, the Genoese dynasty that ruled it into the eighteenth century and left behind the palace that is now the town hall, the main church, the walls and the hilltop convent. Inside the town hall you can see a third-century Roman mosaic for free.<\/p>\n

Loano has held the Blue Flag again in 2026. It is a practical base without a car: the station is in the centre on the Genoa\u2013Ventimiglia line, the Toirano Caves are a few minutes inland and Finale, Albenga and Alassio are all within half an hour. It is a quieter, more affordable alternative to the Cinque Terre or Portofino, with a long beach those places do not have.<\/p>\n

What to see in Loano<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/figure>\n

The historic centre is small and flat: you can walk it in a couple of hours, starting from Piazza Italia, where Palazzo Doria and the church of San Giovanni Battista face each other. Add an hour if you want to walk up to the Monte Carmelo convent.<\/p>\n

Palazzo Doria and the Roman mosaic<\/h3>\n
\"Palazzo<\/figure>\n

The palace was built between 1574 and 1578 for Giovanni Andrea Doria and his wife Zenobia Del Carretto, to a design attributed to Galeazzo Alessi or one of his pupils. It is a Renaissance residence with something of a fortress about it, which you notice in the pentagonal tower added in 1602 to guard the walls and linked to the palace by a walkway. Today it houses the town hall. Look for the sixteenth-century slate doorway and, in the gardens, the Fontana Giovanna and a small open-air theatre.<\/p>\n

Inside, in the Sala del Mosaico, is a fragment of a Roman floor mosaic from the third century AD, found in the town centre. Entry is free during town hall opening hours, and the room often hosts temporary exhibitions. Recent digs in the lanes of the old town have uncovered more mosaic fragments and walls that point to a Roman villa of the imperial age.<\/p>\n

Church of San Giovanni Battista<\/h3>\n

Opposite the palace, Loano’s main church was built by the Doria between 1633 and 1638. It has a centralised polygonal plan, unusual in Liguria, and a dome that replaced the original spire after the 1887 earthquake. Inside are an eighteenth-century altar and pulpit and paintings by seventeenth-century Genoese artists including Domenico Fiasella, Orazio De Ferrari and Giovanni Andrea Ansaldo. The patron saint’s day is 24 June.<\/p>\n

Walls, gates and towers<\/h3>\n
\"Porta<\/figure>\n

The old town was enclosed by walls with four gates. The best known is Porta Passorino, closing Via Cavour to the west: in 1774 a small tower with Savoy coats of arms, a clock and a bell was added, so locals also call it the Clock Gate. Following the line of the walls you reach the pentagonal tower and the San Sebastiano bridge over the Nimbalto stream, built in 1691.<\/p>\n

Borgo Castello and the Doria castle<\/h3>\n
\"Loggia<\/figure>\n

North of the centre, Borgo Castello is the oldest part of Loano: a small square with arches and terraces, cobbled lanes and a stairway leading up to the castle. The first fortification dates from the twelfth century and the Doria turned it into a residence in the sixteenth. The castle is privately owned and can only be seen from outside, but the hamlet is worth the short detour.<\/p>\n

Monte Carmelo convent and the walk up<\/h3>\n
\"Loano<\/figure>\n

On the hill above town, the convent of Monte Carmelo was founded by the Doria in the early seventeenth century and given to the Carmelite friars, who still live there. It has a church, a cloister, a defensive tower and a palace; the Doria were buried in the crypt. You reach it over a viaduct and a cobbled ramp that end in the square in front of the church.<\/p>\n

The walk up from the centre is short but steep: carry water in summer and go early in the morning or towards evening. From the terrace in front of the church you see the whole bay of Loano. The church is usually open morning and afternoon, with donations welcome. Do not confuse it with Monte Carmo, the 1,389-metre mountain behind Loano.<\/p>\n

The art fountains<\/h3>\n
\"Fountain<\/figure>\n

In the 2000s Loano filled its squares with fountains by contemporary artists: Sandro Lorenzini’s Fountain of the Hours, with 24 columns that spout water every hour and all together at noon and midnight; Ugo Nespolo’s In cima al mondo, a bronze globe with a child on top; Walter Valentini’s Le Misure, il Cielo; Fulvio Filidei’s Vibrazioni ritmiche loanesi; and two stone works by Bruno Chersicla, Neptune and Conversation at the Spring. Spotting them all is a good game with children.<\/p>\n

Churches and oratories<\/h3>\n

Within a few steps you find the Oratory of Our Lady of the Rosary, from 1661, with an altarpiece attributed to Baciccio, and the Oratory of San Giovanni Battista of the White Hoods confraternity. Near the marina, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Loreto is the oldest medieval building on Loano’s coast, with a fresco of the Virgin rescuing a ship and sailors’ votive offerings. Sant’Agostino, from the late sixteenth century, has two rows of columns in Verezzi stone.<\/p>\n

Maritime museum and the Fishermen’s House<\/h3>\n
\"Permanent<\/figure>\n

In Palazzo Kursaal, home of the public library, a permanent exhibition tells the story of Loano’s seafaring past through old photographs, ship models and tools. On the promenade, the Casetta dei Lavoratori del Mare is a late nineteenth-century building that started life as a maritime health station and is now a small museum of objects donated by fishing families. Opening times vary by season, so check at the tourist office.<\/p>\n

Marina di Loano<\/h3>\n
\"Loano<\/figure>\n

East of the centre, the marina has about a thousand berths and takes yachts up to 77 metres. Even without a boat it is worth a stroll along the breakwater, especially at sunset, with bars and restaurants along the quays.<\/p>\n

Beaches in Loano<\/h2>\n
\"Loano<\/figure>\n

The beach runs in front of the town for about two kilometres, from the marina to the border with Borghetto. It is a mix of sand and fine shingle and the seabed shelves gently, which is why Loano is popular with families with young children. Beach clubs alternate with free stretches and “spiagge libere attrezzate”, free beaches where you only pay if you rent a parasol and sunbed. In summer three of these, Delfino, Lampara and Murena, offer free assisted bathing for people with disabilities, booked in advance.<\/p>\n

Free stretches, dogs, prices and tips for families are covered in our guide to the beaches of Loano<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Things to do in Loano<\/h2>\n