Diano Marina – Nice – Monaco – San Remo (Part 1)

During the last short trip or – as Tim Ferris would call it – mini retirement we visited the famous Côte d’Azur and Riviera of Flowers. The first stop was Diano Marina where we stayed 3 nights at the Piccolo hotel.

Diano Marina

The Gulf of Diana is one of the most important tourist areas in the Riviera of Flowers and Liguria. The name Diano Marina derives from the ancient devotion to the Roman Goddess Diana. The small town has a 3.5 km long sand beach with lots of bars, restaurants, night clubs, shops and hotels. It is located 90 km southwest of Genoa and it’s population is about 7’000. It borders the following comunes: Diano Castello, Imperia and San Bartolomeo al Mare. For a better overview check out the KMZ file I’ve created.

During these months (September, October) it is not so packed with tourists and the beaches are almost empty. Probably the best time to book a relaxing Riviera trip. On sunny days it’s still warm enough to enjoy a swim.

As you can see on the next picture the first day was a bit cloudy but – to see the positive aspect – I think cloudy skies are more interesting on pictures than just clear blue ones. With some experimentation you can get all the details of the sky without overexposure. In such situations I always use the spot metering to get the right exposure.

A storm was coming but the lightning at the horizon was still far away so we took a couple of pictures this afternoon.

The next morning most of the clouds were gone and the sunrise beneath the thick cloud wall was amazing.

If you are interested you can download the following KMZ File to watch some of the GPS tracks I recorded in Diano Marina.

Diano Marina Trip Details

There will be also some more pictures in the gallery (the next days).

Related posts:

1. Diano Marina – Nice – Monaco – San Remo (Part 3)
2. Diano Marina – Nice – Monaco – San Remo (Part 2)
3. Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
4. A few more HDR examples
5. Monkey in HDR