During our Mediterranean cruise we booked an excursion to Portofino & what more can be said? Expect…read morejust WOW! As u enter the port u are just speechless with the amazing scenery, Mother Nature really put some effort here. We docked & had time to explore, such a lovely area, lots of high end shops, souvenirs & plenty of places to eat, the price here is the scenery & it did not disappoint!

Porto di Portofino is a beautiful small Italian fishing village and holiday resort famous for its…read morepicturesque harbour and historical association with celebrity and artistic visitors. It is located just a half hour boat, train, or car ride away from the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. Potofino is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line it's shore. With a short hike up to Castello Brown or Brown Castle, you can get a awesome view of the port of Portofino and the surrounding area which is ideal for the best photographs! References to Portofino date all the way back to 29 AD. After 1229 it was part of the Republic of Genoa. In 1409 Portofino was sold to the Republic of Florence by Charles VI of France, but when he was ousted from Genoa, the Florentines gave it back. In 1815 it became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and, from 1861, it became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy. Notable residents include King Richard I of England in 1190 and Pope Gregory XI in 1377 along with several famous politicians, writers, painters, actors, and actresses. The Statue of Christ of the Abyss was placed underwater on 29 August 1954 in the inlet at a depth of 17 metres or 56 ft. This statue was placed to protect fishermen and scuba divers and in memory of Dario Gonzatti, the first Italian to use SCUBA gear, who died in 1947. In 1999, Universal Studios recreated a full-scale replica of Portofino Bay at Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, USA, but it is missing all the mountains and yachts. In 2001, Portofino inspired a recreation of the seaside town around the harbour at Tokyo DisneySea in Chiba, Japan. In 1959 Dalida released an Italian song "Love in Portofino" which Andrea Bocelli reissued in 2013. In 2017, Ferrari named one of their new V8 sports cars after Portofino. The weather on my visit in August was pretty hot but not cloudy and the town was not too packed with tourists that you couldn't move along the town shops and paths, which was ideal. For those with extra time, you can take a tour of Castello Brown. I highly recommend taking a boat trip to enjoy the beauty of this town and the surrounding area from the water! If you're anywhere near Genoa, Portofino is a must see! I highly recommend visiting for a day trip!

I walked into LA passeggiata with my wife and daughter while on holiday here in Genoa. We met the…read moreowner Fabio who made some recommendations for us and we had a stimulating conversation. This is a cafe & books store with an amazing collection of books of popular science. Located next to the School of Department of Architecture in Genoa. This part of the city is the oldest part of Genoa. it was build during the 7th century BC. 700 years before Christ.

A gorgeous cafe behind the Santa Maria di Costello. It's a library and cafe and there are nice…read morecouches and chairs on the inside for you to sit and read as well as enjoy a coffee or a drink. I did not see any non Italian books and unless you knew it existed or ran into it by accident like I did, you would not know this place exists. There is some seating outside and the staff are very friendly and helpful. A nice place for a stop when you are out and about in town. It's high up in the hills so getting here is not simple. But then again some of the best parts of the historic centre are also uphill ;-))

Fun city at the tip of Cinque Terre. Great bars, bistros, restaurants, and clubs…read more Gorgeous beaches with bright blue water. Nice hotels

Our NCL Viva cruise ship docked at the port of Livorno, Italy. This was our first time here on…read morevacation. We took a cruise ship bus up to Lerici, Italy, which is located on a natural bay discovered by the Romans. Lerici is a nice nautical town with lots of boats docked including some very large yachts. We took the rubber boat across to the other side of the bay or to Porto Venere. This was also our first visit to Porto Venere. Porto Venere is a village on the Ligurian coast of northwestern Italy. It's known for Porto Venere Regional Natural Park, a protected area with trails and dive sites. The park encompasses Palmaria Island, dotted with beaches and caves. The Gothic-style Church of St. Peter sits atop a rocky headland. We walked the local streets up to St. Peter, but did not go inside St. Peter. Nearby is the centuries-old Castello Doria, an imposing cliff top fortress with views of the Gulf of Poets. More to come regarding our lunch in Porto Venere before we returned to Lerici on our two rubber boats.

We took the train from La Spezia where our hotel is to Manarola. The train was clean and the…read moreeasiest way to get from La Spezia to Cinque Terre. It was raining when we were there so the ferry wasn't an option with the choppy water. Manarola is beautiful. The buildings are so colorful. The main street from the train station down to the harbor was a short walk with lots of touristy shops, restaurants, and gelato shops. Lots of little boats out in front of the shops along the path too. Walk down to the harbor to look back at Manarola to see all the colorful buildings lined up next to each other. Then take the path to the left and hike up to the top of that hill to take a look back at Manarola. It's not as colorful as Vernazza but just as beautiful.

This was the fourth coastal town on our hike of The Blue Trail coming from Monterosso. The hike…read morepart was not ideal since we weren't aware until we couldn't turn back that we were actually on a detour from the trail due to the main trail being closed for damages. This new one was exhausting, extremely long, and not great for a hot day and definitely not what we'd planned for. Due to this, I don't feel we gave Manarola justice. We walked through it quickly and found it to not have the views or the coastline of either Vernazza or Monterosso, so we hurried through to the station to finish our journey. In retrospect I wish we'd taken the train from Cornigila to Manarola so we could have had more time to enjoy walking down to the water, eating at the many great restaurants this town boasts, and exploring the town itself. I suppose it's only motivation to return in the future!

Wonderful monument dating back to the 10th century, in the unique context of the natural reserve of…read moreMonte di Portofino. You can reach it either ferry or hiking through the mountain. Visit the Abbey, have a swim and get back to your hike. This picturesque village is definitely something that you would like to visit.

To say that it is a pearl of rare beauty in the shell of the luxuriant promontory of Portofino is…read morelike tracing a cliché, but otherwise I would not know how to describe this little picturesque village in few words. Going to this place, in spite of years of visits, it is always an exciting surprise for me. In fact sea arriving away, both from west (from Camogli) or from east (Portofino), just behind to a small promontory the medieval building appears to me at once with its porch, trifore windows and bell tower. It seems a little porcelain jewel case laid down on the beach. The first nucleus of the abbey was built around the end of the X century, from Greek monks which brought the Byzantine architectural schemes in the dome of the abbey. In the following centuries the complex was widened by Adelaide, the widow of Ottone I, and subsequently from the Benedictines, to which the abbey was left. In the XIII century was built a porched projection. In the course of the centuries the little hermitage became a rich and powerful abbey, but on the other hand a prey for the pirates. Towards the 16th century the complex of Saint Fruttuoso di Capodimonte was transformed in fishermen houses, often broods of pirates and finally property of the Doria Family for centuries. In order to sight in time the danger arriving from the sea and to be able to protect the village, Andrea Doria constructed the great tower that still today dominates the bay. In 1933 the Italian State began the restoration activities after the donation to FAI from the family Doria Pamphili: 33 hectares of earth that include, to the west Cove of the Gold - today breeding zone for fishes, therefore forbidden to navigation and to swim, the sixteenth century sight-tower and part of the wooded declivity. Here you can be only arrive via sea or from a steep path coming down from the Mount of Portofino, there is no way to reach the beach by car and just for this reason it has conserved the fascination of the past times. Currently it is an obligatory stage for the tourists that visit the mount of Portofino.