It’s been nearly a year since we were able to travel freely – if at all. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and some day we really will be able to pack our bags and reach for our passports again. While we wait, our local agents remind us of what we’re missing.

At the time of writing, Liguria has just moved into zona arancione­ which means that restaurants are take away only and travel between towns is limited. Schools are still open and we can still work. Throughout lockdown, however, the essentials of Italian life, the daily fish markets and the fresh fruit and vegetable markets, stayed open so I’ve been happily cooking sea bass and the famous Santa Margherita prawns at home.

Liguria is one of Italy’s smallest regions, a narrow ribbon of sea and steep green mountains curving from the Côte d’Azur eastwards into Tuscany. For both residents and holiday home owners, it’s the combination of the laid-back Riviera lifestyle and easy access to the region’s buzzy capital city, Genoa, that makes it so special. Buyers' top choices include Portofino, one of the prettiest and priciest locations, year-round Santa Margherita, with its many shops, bars, restaurants and waterfront promenade, and the lovely fishing port of Camogli.

Genoa’s culture includes art galleries, museums and a theatre, while its international airport has daily flights to London. Road access is excellent too and last summer when air travel was disrupted new visitors from across Europe discovered Liguria by car.

This area has always been a favourite weekend destination for the Milanese and wealthy international buyers but it has now become highly desirable across all price points. Despite Covid we sold more homes in 2020 than in 2019 – everything from studio apartments and country homes to renovate to exclusive villas in Portofino. 

The property market has been fully open since last summer and we’ve tried hard to help anyone unable to travel. In December I was given Power of Attorney by an English couple so that I could sign to complete their purchase with the notary as they watched on Facetime. And later today I am taking a video of a €6.9 million villa in Rapallo at the request of families in Dublin and Hong Kong.

Schools have also been open since September but my two young sons have missed our usual weekend trips to the mountains. We’re only 90 minutes from ski resorts and in ’normal’ times often drove to Piedmont for a day in the snow. Overall we know we are lucky. To look up and glimpse the sea is wonderful and something I never take for granted, even after 15 years here.

Other unexpected lockdown joys include sightings of some normally reclusive wildlife. Fewer boats on the water have encouraged dolphins to swim closer to shore and last week I saw a deer on the beach. Liguria’s spine-tingling natural beauty has always been a major incentive for holiday home buyers – the view you buy is the view you’ll have for life with no new-build permitted at all – and lockdown has only made that more desirable.

My home above Camogli has immediate access to the footpaths threaded through the Portofino hills and during the pandemic we’ve spent hours exploring them. Liguria offers an ideal outdoor lifestyle but more than anything, local life focuses on the sea. Kayaking, swimming and, the new favourite, paddle boarding, while others prefer a traditional gozzo, lovely brightly coloured wooden boats for four or five passengers with a small canopy for shade. The perfect socially distanced way to slowly explore this wonderful stretch of Italian coastline.

• Lucy Walton is Marketing Director at Ar92, Savills associate in Liguria 
  
  

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• Lucy Walton and the global residential team are available remotely for any questions about the market or to simply share stories about their beloved locations.