This Is Italy
Portofino is the Saint-Tropez of Italy, but much more beautiful. Here you will find the Italian and worldwide jet set on snow-white luxury yachts. The elite from industry, politics and the entertainment world come here to sit on a terrace and enjoy good food and drinks with 'our kind of people'. And rich Americans get married here with the most beautiful stretch of coast in Italy in the background.
Under the leafy trees above the terraces of bars and restaurants in the harbor and between the oleanders, palm trees, bougainvilleas you doze off at a pricey Bellini with a bowl of chips. Or champagne with caviar, depending on the thickness of your wallet.
You may not have the resources to dock your yacht in Portofino or to hibernate, but a visit to the village is doable during your stay on the Italian coast at the Cinque Terre, in the northwest of Tuscany or in transit to the south.
Besides atmospheric and picturesque, it is also super romantic… So who knows, maybe you'll get a proposal from your loved one here?
Table of contents
- More tourists than residents
- Where is Portofino?
- Worth knowing about Portofino
- In and around Portofino
- 11 fun things to do in Portofino
- Holiday in Portofino?
- Portofino Hotels
- Campsites near Portofino
- Holiday houses and apartments
- Tip: B&B Tre Mari Portofino
- How do you get to Portofino? (tips!)
- Do you like Portofino?
More tourists than residents
Portofino is really just a small village of only 500 inhabitants on the Italian Riviera. Indeed, the allure of the (former) fishing village is many times greater than the village itself. In fact, on any given day of the year, the number of tourists far exceeds the number of inhabitants.
According to Ilja Gort, this high number of tourists has even ruined the former 'pearl of the Italian Riviera' for good.
We ourselves think that it is not too bad if you come outside the high season. After all, there are more Italian hotspots that are teeming with tourists.
Where is Portofino?
Anyway: to be precise, Portofino is located on the Riviera di Levante just east of the large city of Genoa. You will find it on the Gulf of Tigullio on a peninsula that is also a natural park. It Parco Regional Naturale of Portofino.
Worth knowing about Portofino
According to tradition, the village was founded by the Romans who would have given it the name Portus Delphini. This means: harbor of the dolphins, because of the large numbers of dolphins that swam here in the past. Even now you can occasionally spot a dolphin!
The mountainous peninsula on which Portofino is located is a regional park. The Monte di Portofino is the highest peak with its 612 meters.
In 1954 a statue of Christ was sunk in the bay of San Fruttuoso, one of those Magnificent Underwater Treasures of Italy. This Cristo degli Abissi (Christ of the Abyss) is located at a depth of 17 meters and can be viewed if you go diving here. The statue served as the patron saint of divers and fishermen.
Portofino could grow into a village for the ricchi e famosi because of the wealthy industrial families that settled here in the 60s. The Agnelli's, Pirelli's and Ferrari's were all here. And descendants of these families still have their luxurious country residence in Portofino. But the attraction to affluent tourism started here as early as the 19th century.
After the arrival of fashion kings such as Armani, Dolce and Gabbana and dignitaries such as Sir Winston Churchill and the Prince of Monaco, the film stars also flocked to the syrup: Rita Hayworth, Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli, Alain Delon, George Clooney, Madonna, Peter Gabriel, Denzel Washington, Ringo Starr, Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart. They have all been to Portofino.
Portofino's image as a country house for the jet set was definitely established. If you made it, this is the place to be!
In and around Portofino
Like its French counterpart on the Côte d'Azur, Portofino is a sight in itself. Everyone knows the photos of the colored houses in a row, with the marina in front of it.
The square by the harbor (Piazza Martiri dell'Olivetta) is the place to be. For a while, then, because the house prices here are not sick. It is said that you pay about 30 grand for a lazy square meter here, without a view of the square or the harbour. And those prices are only going up, because nothing has been allowed to be built in Portofino since 1935!
If you want to see the movie stars and celebrities pass you by, you have to dig a little deeper into your pouch. Or you can sit on the terrace for an afternoon, which is more affordable and immediately the biggest attraction of Portofino. A glass of wine in the front row will cost you around €10.
Tip: ✅ Here you can see the photos of celebrities spotted in Portofino.
Of course you also walk into the village itself. It consists of only a few streets that you have so explored. Here you can admire the churches Divo San Martino and San Giorgio, next to a small church on via Roma: the Oratorio di Nostra Signora Assunta.
Also beautiful are the fishing chapel of Portofino and the lighthouse of Portofino. You can wall up here. On the tip of a protruding rock you will find a lounge bar.
On a rocky outcrop on the other side of the harbor is the Castello di Paraggi, today a luxury villa with swimming pool and home to Berlusconi's son Pier Silvio – Vice President of Mediaset.
Further sights can be found in the vicinity of Portofino. The village is surrounded by low mountains and it is located in a beautiful nature reserve.
The coast is just as beautiful here as it is a little further away Cinque Terre. This in itself is also an important attraction in the region.
11 fun things to do in Portofino
Are you going to Portofino for a day or longer? Here we have 11 tips for fun things to do in and around Portofino.
- Have a nice lunch or a drink on a terrace at the harbor.
- With a boat discover the coast. You can also take beautiful pictures from the water.
- Visit castle on the hill at the harbour, where you can reach the Piazzetta via the footpath. In Brown Castle you will find a museum and you have a great view of the village and the bay.
- Feel like hiking? Then take it walking path through the nature reserve and walk to San Fruttuoso in an hour or two.
- Don't want to go too far, but still want some activity? Then make a walk to the lighthouse. A nice walk and from there you also have a nice view of the bay, while sipping a nice cool drink from the bar.
- Sporty minded? Rent a kayak and take to the water to admire Portofino and its neighboring villages from the water.
- Fancy a beach? Along the coastal road to Rapallo you will find several pebble beaches where you can enjoy the sun and the sea. In most places you have to pay for a parasol and a sun bed (costs € 20 per day).
- Visit San Fruttuoso with its medieval monastery and cozy beach. Optionally, you can dive here to the Christ statue in the sea.
- Do you like expensive shopping? In Portofino, all expensive Italian fashion brands a shop. Make sure you have enough credit on your card! Or stick to window shopping.
- Are you feeling arty-farty? go to it Museum of the Park, a sculpture garden on several terraces in the hills of Portofino, also featuring modern art and a view of the marina. Open in the summer months.
- How about a dinner during sunset? Watch the colors of the houses and the sea change while you enjoy all those goodies with your sweetheart. How romantic!
Holiday in Portofino?
Have you set your sights on Portofino? Then you might want to spend your holiday in the village or in the surrounding area. It is not necessarily necessary to book an accommodation in Portofino, because you can also go there as a day trip by car and by public transport and because you can spend the night in the area more cheaply.
But if you also want to enter the world of the fashionable jet set, it is of course possible. Our advice is to get there early, because Portofino is popular!
Portofino Hotels
You can spend the night in Portofino in one of the hotels in the village. These are a bit more affordable than the hotels right on the coast, but of course still pricey. Which is not surprising, given the world-famous allure of the village.
Do you want to jump out of the band sometime? The very best and most luxurious hotel in Portofino is the Belmond Hotel Splendido.
Campsites near Portofino
Are you scared of the prices of a hotel? Then a less luxurious stay at a campsite near Portofino might be something for you. There are no campsites in or directly outside Portofino (that doesn't really fit with the jet-set character of the place), but there are a relatively short distance in Rapallo.
For example, you will find these campsites in the area:
Campsite Rapallo
Camping Rapallo is located in a quiet and green area about 800 meters from the motorway exit, directly connected to the center of Rapallo and 2.000 meters from the sea. A nice base to discover the Italian Riviera, but obviously busy in the summer months.
Campsite Miraflores
This campsite is located a bit more from the center of Rapallo, close to the municipal swimming pool, which you can go to at a discount. From here you can explore the hotspots of the region: Portofino, Cinque Terre and Genoa. This campsite gets the highest rating on Google and a 'very good' on Booking.com.
Camping Genova Est
A little further in the direction of Genoa you will find Camping Genova Est. In terms of facilities, you have here: camper service, a launderette, a supermarket, and showers with hot water. There is wifi and pets are allowed, except in mobile homes. This campsite is also rated 'very good' by travelers.
Keep in mind that these campsites can also be crowded and pricey, for obvious reasons.
Holiday houses and apartments
Another option is a holiday home or apartment in Portofino. Through Airbnb (click for a free credit on your first booking) you can search through the range of people who have a room, floor or an entire house in the village for rent.
You can also look at apartments and B&Bs via the various holiday booking sites. A good option is to search via Booking.com, where you can directly read reviews from other travelers and see the pros and cons of all accommodations in a row.
Tip: ✅ View your holiday accommodation in Portofino.
Tip: B&B Tre Mari Portofino
An accommodation that we especially recommend to you as a couple is B&B Tre Mari Portofino.
This is a country house in typical Ligurian colors, located on the first hills of the Portofino promontory, surrounded by 4.000 m² of protected greenery. You can reach it from the village, thanks to a staircase that takes you from the famous small square leads to the hill. All rooms have a beautiful view over the village and the harbour. On the terrace you can enjoy a appetizer surrounded by the warm colors of the sunset and cradled by the sound of the sea.
It doesn't get any better than this!
Tip: ✅ View all photos and information of B&B Tre Mari Portofino.
How do you get to Portofino? (tips!)
You can drive your own car or rental car to Portofino, directly from the Netherlands (about 1.200 kilometers away) or Belgium, from the airports of Genoa or Pisa or from your holiday home in the area.
From the direction of Rapallo, drive along the narrow coastal road to arrive in Portofino. At the same time, this is the only way to get in and out of the coastal town by car, so you can imagine that the route can get busy in high season.
However, the half-hour drive along the coast is well worth it. on dangerousroads.org (don't worry, it's not that bad) Portofino's Strada Provinciale 227 (SP 227) is hailed as one of the best coastal routes in the world.
It's an exhilarating 12,8km ride along beautiful coastal scenery on the Italian Riviera. Let your co-driver keep the camera or phone at the ready and take long traffic jams into account in the summer. The route connects Rapallo, a town known for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montallegro and the spectacular city of Portofino, on the Gulf of Tigullio.
In Portofino you can go to Parking Portofino on Piazza della Libertà. Please note that this parking garage can be full during high season or on weekends. It is not cheap either: you pay € 6 per hour in parking costs. But then you are in Portofino.
There are still some places to park outside the parking garage, but by no means sufficient for all tourists and certainly not in high season.
Entrance of the parking garage in Portofino: parking at your own risk (photo: booking.com)
An alternative is to park your car in a village or town further on and take the bus to Portofino from there. You can then park in Rapallo or Santa Margherita Ligure, for example. There is also a train station in Santa Margherita from where you can also take the bus to Portofino.
You can also try to park your car on the outskirts of Portofino and continue on foot from there. Walking along the coastline to the village is doable, because you see the most beautiful views.
Another option, perhaps preferable above all else, is to go by boat from Rapallo to Portofino. Charter a yacht or take a water taxi and feel like royalty for a while. There's nothing like mooring at what is arguably the most beautiful and distinctive port in all of Italy!
Are you traveling by plane to the Portofino area? Then you can fly directly to nearby Genoa or else via Pisa airport. From there it is a 150 km (about 2 hours) drive to Portofino.
They are all beautiful and there are many tourists everywhere. If you are in the area and you have the time, just check out all these most beautiful places on the Italian Riviera!
Definitely in the early or late season. Try to avoid the busy summer season. It is then full of tourists and that is not fun.
€2.350 per day. Please note that there are only 6 berths for superyachts. The busiest period is during the Portofino Rolex Trophy. Then one night in the port will cost you € 17.650.
Do you like Portofino?
Do you love Portofino? Then you should definitely take a look at the Cinque Terre and to Portovenere, those other most beautiful places in Liguria.
What are your experiences with Portofino?
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