How to get to Pigna

There are several different options. Here are some of the most common ones.

By car:

If you are coming from the west via France or from the east, such as Genoa, you can take the exit at Ventimiglia on the highway. From there, drive through Ventimiglia, and where the city transitions into Camporosso, there is a roundabout where you take the second exit. Then continue straight, and after another 18 km, you will reach Pigna.

By plane:

There are various options.

The closest airport is Nice (Aeroport Nice Cote d'Azur, code: NCE), which is only about 70 km from Pigna. You can rent a car there, or you can take a train to Ventimiglia and then a bus to Pigna - more details below.

If you don't mind a slightly longer journey from the airport to Pigna or if you want to combine your stay in Pigna with exploring other parts of Italy, you can also choose to fly to cities like Genoa, Milan (Malpensa, Linate, Bergamo), or Pisa.

For many people, there will be options for direct flights or flights with layovers. The latter option usually takes longer but can be cheaper or better suited to your schedule.

I recommend purchasing flight tickets directly from the airline, even though prices may be slightly cheaper through booking agencies. This way, you can avoid unnecessary issues related to rescheduling, cancellations, and the like.

Car rental:

Cars are available at the airports. In Nice, they are located in Terminal 2, and there is a shuttle bus and a tram from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 (both free on that route).

The only car rental company near Pigna is located in Camporosso (on the road from the coast to Pigna): Caralingella (www.fratellicaringella.com/sito-cortesia). You can contact them by writing or calling to inquire about prices and other details. The actual car rental itself may not necessarily be cheaper than at the airport agencies, and the quality of the cars may vary, but additional services might be cheaper (e.g., extra driver), and they are very friendly.

Public transportation:

From Nice Airport to Ventimiglia:

From Terminal 1 and 2 of the airport, you can take a tram (L2 and L3) to the nearest train station. The stop is called Grand Arénas. It's free to travel this route (you need a ticket for longer distances). Visit www.nice.aeroport.fr/en/directions/public-transport for more information.

By the way, it's only a 10-15 minute walk from Terminal 1 to the train station.

The station is called Nice St Augustin, and from there, you can take a train to Ventimiglia (French: Vintimille) once or twice an hour (depending on the time of day). You can check departure times and purchase tickets at www.sncf-connect.com/ or using the sncf-connect app. You can also buy tickets at the station (usually from a ticket machine).

From cities in Italy: It is convenient to use www.trenitalia.com. Travelers from many European countries will find that train travel in Italy is relatively inexpensive.

Regarding timetables (for Europe in general), I can also recommend www.bahn.de.

From Ventimiglia to Pigna:

By bus:

There is a bus connection from Ventimiglia to Pigna: Line 7. I won't provide a direct link to any current timetable online as there are seasonal variations between summer and winter schedules. You can find the current timetable as follows:

On the website https://rivieratrasporti.it/, you move your cursor to the "ORARI" (timetable) section and click on the menu item "Riviera Trasporti SpA." Depending on the season, you can select either "Orario invernale" (winter timetable) or "Orario estivo" (summer timetable) without specifying specific routes. On this timetable, you scroll down to Linea 7 VENTIMIGLIA - DOLCEACQUA - ISOLABONA - PIGNA - CASTELVITTORIO (ROCCHETTA - APRICALE - BUGGIO).
In the winter timetable, the service likely operates only on weekdays (solo feriale), which means not on Sundays and holidays. From bitter experience, I know it's good to be aware of when there are holidays in Italy.
As seen on the timetable, there are a limited number of daily departures, so it's important to keep that in mind when planning your journey.

By taxi:

It is possible to take a taxi, although it can be a bit challenging to find one at the train station. And it is more expensive than the bus. I would estimate the cost to be around 40-50 euros.