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Portofino, Italy
Italy

Things to do in Portofino

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Portofino

A fishing village of about four hundred people on a wooded headland, wrapped around a horseshoe harbour and long since the most expensive address on the Ligurian coast. The road in is narrow and parking is capped, so most arrivals are by boat from Santa Margherita or on foot over the headland.

6 places on record

Things to do

6
  1. Faro di Portofino

    Faro di Portofino

    Landmark · 30 min

    The lighthouse at the tip of the promontory, twenty minutes on a paved path beyond the castle. It is the furthest point you can walk to and the water on three sides is the reason to do it.

  2. Abbazia di San Fruttuoso

    Monastery · 2.5 hr

    A tenth-century abbey in a cove reachable only by boat or on foot over the headland, with no road to it at all. The bronze Christ of the Abyss stands submerged offshore and is visited by divers and glass-bottomed boat.

  3. Belmond Hotel Splendido

    Hotel

    A sixteenth-century monastery turned hotel in 1901, on the hillside above the harbour with the bay framed through umbrella pines. The walk down to the piazzetta takes ten minutes and the shuttle brings you back.

  4. Castello Brown

    Castle · 1 hr

    A fortress above the harbour, rebuilt as a private house by a British consul in the nineteenth century and now open with its garden. The terrace gives the standard view down onto the painted houses and the yachts.

  5. Chiesa di San Giorgio

    Church · 30 min

    A small church on the rise between the harbour and the castle, rebuilt after wartime damage. It is a short stop on the walk up and the terrace beside it looks back over the bay.

  6. Parco naturale regionale

    Park · 4 hr

    The protected headland behind the village, laced with marked paths through holm oak and pine between Camogli, San Fruttuoso and Portofino. Walking in is the way to arrive without fighting the road.

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