The Ventimiglia of today is composed of the upper town of medieval origin, built on the top of the "Cavo" hill, and of the new lower town in the alluvial plain between the river Roja and the torrent Nervia, where the ancient Ligurian people Intemelii and then the Romans once settled.

The Ventimiglia region is very various from a geographical and a climatical point of view. The valley of the Roja, the only river of the Imperia region running nevertheless mostly in France, is characterized by steep and deep gorges rich in woods and small lakes, studded with few but picturesque mountain villages; the coast westwards between the mouth of the Roja and the French border near Mentone, on the contrary, has a typical mediterranean vegetation and offers such an exceptionally mild climate that it favoured in the last century the creation of the acclimatization park of Sights.

The extreme western strip of the coast is famous for the presence of the Balzi Rossi caves, imposing cliffs sheer to the sea characterized by the typical reddish colour where prehistoric man found a shelter for milleniums, leaving many evidences of his presence.