L’Ultima Spiaggia: Walking to the Sand Along a Vanished Railway

Italy | Liguria | Savona | Ligurian Riviera

The promenade running past L’Ultima Spiaggia carries the name of Eugenio Montale, the Ligurian poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the walkway itself follows the old Genoa-Savona railway line, decommissioned in April 1977 once trains were rerouted further inland. I hadn’t expected a beachfront path to trace an actual rail bed, but the giveaway is everywhere once you know to look for it, an old station building still standing near Piazzale Marinetti, a converted railway hut now serving as the tourist office, and further along, a genuine three-hundred-meter tunnel through Capo Torre, once passed through by trains and now open to anyone walking or cycling toward Celle Ligure.

L’Ultima Spiaggia sits directly along this stretch, in Albisola Superiore, and it makes the most of the promenade’s calm, traffic-free setting, a genuinely polished beach club built for an unhurried day rather than anything rushed.

Calm, Clear Water Protected From the Open Sea

The water here shifts from a vibrant aquamarine near the shore to a deep sapphire further out, and I found the clarity consistently good, watching small fish move over the clean sandy seabed during a morning swim. The coast’s protected layout keeps the water notably calm through the morning and early afternoon, and the shoreline blends fine golden sand with carefully groomed gravel and small polished pebbles that felt genuinely pleasant underfoot rather than the rougher shingle I’ve encountered at some Ligurian beaches.

Full Accessibility From the Promenade to the Sand

L’Ultima Spiaggia takes real pride in its barrier-free design, wide ramps running directly from the pedestrian promenade onto the beach itself, and I found this level of accessibility genuinely comprehensive rather than a token gesture, comparable to the dedicated accessibility work I’d seen at beaches specifically built around that mission elsewhere in Savona province. Given the beach’s organized, managed setup, I’d expect dogs to need explicit permission on the main sections, consistent with how fee-based Italian beaches generally handle pets, though the old railway path itself running behind the beach is a popular dog-walking route locals use regularly, leash and waste bag required.

A Gradual Slope Built for Families

The seabed slopes gently enough here that I watched children wade out a genuine distance while staying safely within their depth, the shallows remaining shallow for long enough to function as a natural, supervised wading area. Because the beach sits directly off the pedestrian-only promenade, I never had to manage the stroller-and-cooler juggling act that steeper, cliffside beaches elsewhere on this coast can demand, and I’d call this one of the more genuinely relaxed family beaches I’ve visited in Albisola.

Lifeguards, Showers, and Paddleboards From the Service Desk

Certified lifeguards maintain constant coverage from elevated posts through operational hours, and both cold rinse stations and heated freshwater showers sit conveniently near the loungers. I rented a stand-up paddleboard from the service desk one morning and found the calm, protected water here ideal for an unhurried glide along the coast rather than anything demanding real effort.

Trofie al Pesto on a Veranda Over the Sea

The on-site restaurant looks directly out over the water from an open-air veranda, and I found the setting genuinely romantic for an evening meal, starting with espresso and pastry in the morning, moving through handmade trofie pasta with basil pesto or grilled fresh fish at midday, and finishing with a glass of local Pigato during the sunset aperitivo.

Getting There: Northeast From Savona Into Albisola Superiore

L’Ultima Spiaggia sits along the SS1 Via Aurelia, and reaching it from Savona means following the coastal road northeast into Albisola Superiore, watching for signs toward the seafront promenade. I found the drive itself straightforward, the road hugging the coast the entire way.

Parking Within Walking Distance

Municipal parking spaces sit a short walk from the beach entrance, and I found arriving by mid-morning during peak July and August weeks made a genuine difference in securing a spot close by rather than adding an extra ten minutes of walking in the heat.

The Bus From Savona and the Walk Along Montale’s Path

TPL Linea Bus Route 40 runs directly from Savona’s central railway station, dropping passengers a few hundred meters from the boardwalk entry. I used this option once, and the final walk along the Passeggiata Eugenio Montale, level and traffic-free the whole way, felt like a genuinely pleasant transition into beach mode rather than a chore to get through.

Comparing L’Ultima Spiaggia to Its Neighbors Along the Coast

L’Ultima Spiaggia sits close enough to Golden Beach Albisola that a short walk along the same old railway path connects the two, though Golden Beach trades this quieter, family-paced setting for a livelier daytime-to-nightlife shift. For a completely different pace, Bau Bau Village Albisola Marina sits further along the coast too, built specifically around dogs rather than the barrier-free human accessibility this beach prioritizes.

Walking Back Through the Old Railway Tunnel at Dusk

By the time I left on my last evening, the light had dropped low enough to catch the promenade’s old station building in a warm gold, and I walked part of the route toward the converted railway tunnel just to stand at its entrance, cool air moving out of the old passage the way it must have felt to anyone waiting for a train here decades before this stretch of track became, quite unexpectedly, one of the more pleasant walks to the beach I’ve found anywhere on this coast.