Fur coat and no bikini - it's spring in Liguria

In Mediterranean Italy the locals are still wrapped up, but for Clare Rudebeck it's ideal walking weather

There's a stiff wind skidding along the seafront and the locals in Diano Marina aren't taking any chances. Children can build sandcastles provided they are wearing at least two layers, but a paddle in the sea is out of the question. Residents of the Italian Riviera never swim before July. The risk of suffering a colpo d'aria – being hit by the wind – would be too great. Eating ice-cream is fine, however. Women in fur-trimmed coats sit in rows munching on double scoops of chocolate. The tourists aren't hard to spot. They're the ones in bikinis. Using walls and makeshift barriers to deflect the breeze, they sit defiant, shades on, mahogany skin sucking in the sun.

It's spring in Liguria. For dedicated sun-worshippers the holiday season clearly never comes soon enough, but I'm with the locals on this one. This is a day for wearing two jumpers, not two triangles of Lycra, on your top half. It's the perfect time of year to enjoy the Ligurian coast, which swings from the French border down to Tuscany, without having to battle with mid-tantrum toddlers and inflatable animals. In high season, deckchairs on the beach in Diano Marina are booked by the month. Today, there are no more than 10 people on the shore. You can catch a waiter's eye immediately, pick the best table and drink a warming espresso with nothing to spoil your view of the Mediterranean.

And it's ideal weather for walking. On this, the locals and I disagree. Taking a stroll along the seafront is very popular, but there are troubled glances as I hit my stride, backpack on. Squeezed between the Alps and the sea, Liguria is very condensed. Ports, resorts and pretty villages are often within a few kilometres of each other.

Entirely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1887, Diano Marina is a purpose-built pleasure town. Walk west for three kilometres over the cliffs and you're in the busy markets of Imperia, the provincial capital and local port. Cervo, a medieval hill town, is 45 minutes walk east. Inland, Cervo's blueprint is repeated in miniature across the hillsides. The villages surrounding Diano Marina include Diano Castello, Diano San Pietro and Diano Borello.

I headed for Cervo. The town is on the coast, but where Diano Marina has sand, it has pebbles. It sits compactly on its hill, begging to be photographed. Its cobbled medieval alleyways and archways are intact; its buildings painted in shades at varying points on the spectrum between magnolia and terracotta. Until the 12th century, it was the fief of the Clavesana family and their castle is now the local museum. The town is topped by its seventeenth church, Chiesa degli Corallini, built with money raised by local fishermen.

The best view in town is impossible to miss. Ristorante Serafino is halfway up the main thoroughfare to the church, at the point where your lungs begin to burst. The restaurant caters ingeniously for both tourists and Italians. Coming round the corner, the panting foreigner sees a large terrace where she can sit in the sun's glare, order a beer and look out over the Mediterranean. The Italian, however, will have booked in advance to eat at least five courses in the restaurant on the lower terrace, shaded by a network of pergolas. Apparently, the restaurant's standards are so high that it doesn't open if the fish isn't fresh that day. I have no idea how good the food is, however, because I didn't make a reservation and was ushered back up to the snack menu on the upper deck.

There's a lot of very nice food in this part of Liguria. Diano Marina is in the middle of the Riviera dei Olivi (Coast of Olives), one of the major producers of extra-virgin olive oil. Pesto was invented here and, of course, there's fresh seafood, homemade cheeses and wines and a dedication to inventing more-ish antipasti dishes. But there are certain rules that must be observed in order to get at this feast. Rule one: Ligurians have no time for fast food. Book at least half a day in advance, especially if you want a traditional five-course blowout.

Rule two: the further you are from the sea, the higher the probability of getting a good meal (Ristorante Serafino is a notable exception). As you move inland, the likely cost of the meal simultaneously decreases (Ristorante Serafino is a case in point). On my first night in Diano Marina, I ate a gluey pizza by the water. On the second, I ate one block inland, at Trattoria Cavalleri. It was £12 for two courses with wine and the Spaghettata del Golfo, was a graveyard of delicious freshly caught mussels, prawns and clams.

The best meals are a few kilometres inland, in the hill villages. Lunch takes three, preferably four hours. It begins with copious antipasti dishes (raw ham, pâté, vegetable dishes, olives, and anchovies), then the primo piatto (a pasta dish, soup, rice-dish or pizza) and then, when your stomach is crying for mercy, the secondo piatto arrives (a meat or seafood dish with all the trimmings). The meal is washed down with a digestivo liqueur. The rest of Italy considers the Ligurian diet cucina povera (poor cuisine), however, foreigners prefer to remember that it is one of the healthiest Italian diets, being rich in seafood, vegetables and olive oil.

Good food is not the only reason to head for the Ligurian hills. Jettisoning my walking boots, I got a car and drove inland on my third day. The views of the hillsides, covered in olive groves, rippling up to the Alps are the stuff of a weary Londoner's dreams. The mini-Dianos are only a few kilometres from the coastal towns, but the culture gap is much wider. Villagers here would never dream of buying wine. They make their own, calling it vino d'uva (wine made of grapes), to distinguish it from the chemical-ridden, shop-bought rubbish. You can also buy home-made cheeses, preserves and olive oil here. Sitting in a small café, sipping a home-made digestivo made from wild myrtle, I decide I'm definitely with the locals on this one.

The Facts

Getting there

Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com) offers return flights from London Stansted to Genoa from £31 return. Trains from Genoa to Diano Marina take less than two hours and tickets cost around £4 each way.

Staying there

Clare Rudebeck stayed at Hotel Bellevue Mediterranee (0039 0183 4093; www.bellevueetmediterranee.it) in Diano Marina, which offers b&b in a double from £79.

Further information

For more information, contact the local tourist office, APT Riviera dei Fiori, in San Remo (00 39 0184 59059; www.rivieradeifiori.org) or the Italian Tourist Board in London (020-7408 1254; www.enit.it).