Have you heard of Portofino?
Portofino is a lovely little town on the Italian Riviera – just south of Genova – Genoa and with only 500 inhabitants. The bay, or rather cove surrounded by mountain/hills all around it makes it a very pretty setting for a day trip or even a romantic weekend.
Here are my Top 5 tips for enjoying your trip to Portofino.
1. Beware of the Low / End of Season
If you’re thinking of visiting Portofino in low/end season (end of November, March), beware that you might save money but you’ll miss out a little on the Portofino experience and find a bit of a ghost town. On one hand, the bay won’t be clogged with yachts anchored away in concentric half-circles, but on the other hand, many local (and high fashion) stores will be closed so shopping and buying necessities will be more difficult.
At the end of November we stayed in a hotel which was literally closing for the season (reopening in March) the day we checked out. A visit to Portofino when most of the inhabitants are gone is not impossible, but finding services like hotels and restaurants becomes difficult.
2. Don’t miss the Golden Hour at the St. George’s Church
If you’re thinking about climbing up to the Chiesa di San Giorgio (St. George’s Church) I strongly suggest going during the “Golden Hour” that is, the hour right before sunset as it really lights up the yellow church and provides a great place to take some potraits or play with silhouettes as the sun goes down.
The church itself is a small structure that you can peek your head into, but explore the grounds around and in front of it for those picture-perfect opportunities.
With the church at your back, there’s a little terrace on the left that gets the last remaining rays of the day, long after darkness has fallen on the Portofino bay.
There’s a telescope if you fancy having a lookout.
But above all, have fun with the setting sun and ask some friends or some strangers to model for you and snap away!
3. Take the climb to Castello / Castle Brown
Portofino is a tiny town, so after you’ve seen the church, you should also make sure you see the Castello (Castle) Brown. It’s a healthy climb that winds through the hilltop neighborhood that is fun to take, and the grounds directly underneath the castle can be explored even without paying for the entrance fee to go into the castle. I recommend taking the path from the San Giorgio church to the Castle, and then winding down around the grounds back down to the bay. You’ll get a great shot of the bay this way, too!
4. Eat at your own Risk, and your Wallet’s
Food in Italy is fantastic, delicious, and simple. But not always a guarantee.
I have to say one of the worst culinary experiences I’ve ever had was while I was in Portofino. It wasn’t just the cost (which was astronomical) but the quality was terrible and when compounded with the price, it just twisted the knife even more. Is there anything worse than a terrible AND expensive meal? I think much worse than a cheap, terrible meal.
This particular restaurant (again, I’m sure it was getting ready to close for the season) served us the worst plate of pasta I’ve ever eaten – and it was just pesto! Pesto is pretty difficult to mess up – it’s just basil, olive oil, cheese and pine nuts. The pasta must have been cooked in cups of salt as it was extremely salty to the point of being inedible, and we ate just enough to get us through the evening and left the rest. To top it off, drinks were not listed on the menu and when a few in our party ordered cans of Coke, at the end of the evening they paid the hefty price of 7.50euro (USD$10!!!) for a simple coke. Not even a slice of lemon in sight. We paid the bill, on the edge of violence, and decided to leave and never look back, and not ruin the rest of our time in the city.
So, my story is a caveat for eating in Portofino, and I know not everyone will have this experience. But eating in Portofino will be expensive (the restaurants that we saw all had similar, expensive menus) and it might not even be good. I suggest really investigating and getting some suggestions from someone who’s been there (but not me). Otherwise, I strongly recommend spending your mealtimes outside Portofino, perhaps limiting yourself to an aperitivo and heading to Santa Margherita Ligure on the bus for dinner, especially in those low season times.
5. Skip the taxi, take the bus from Santa Margherita Ligure to Portofino
Bus schedules are pretty regular, and you can get easily to Portofino from the Santa Margherita Ligure train station with a local bus that will cost you a Euro or so for the trip. Buy a few extra tickets while you’re at it so that way you can make the trip back to Santa Margherita without having to search for an open ticket stand. If you prefer taxis, there’s a taxi stand just outside the train station.
Make sure you get back in plenty of time to make your train! Maybe you’ll even have time for a nap while you think about all the memories you’ve just made in Portofino.
Have you been to Portofino? Leave your own tips and tricks in the comments!
I was in Portofino twice last May. It was great BUT, like you.. I could have done without the VERY EXPENSIVE meal. I think the cheapest thing we got was gelato. The 2nd time I ate at S. Margherita Ligure and took the taxi boat to Portofino for gelato…. which was definitely the way to go.
@Sonia – interesting tip about the taxi boat – I didn’t see any of them, we must have been too far out of season :)
Looking at these beautiful pics i wish i would visit this place. Wowo tha is indeed a hefty price you paid just for a coke.
We were in italy in Rome, Naplesand few other places last summer and I have to admit the best food we has there in italy.
We are planning to go back to Rome this jully as our daughter is getting 18 and we gave her the choice to celebrate her b’day in London / Rome and she choosed ROme :-)
beautiful photos and town…I really want to make it there one day
I know Portifino and have been there, went in 2008, we went in November, the weather was excellent,,we had just a coffee, that was really dear. We also headed to Santa Margherita Ligure .
Never been….but would love to go! Great pics and details.
I have heard from many that the food in Portofino is very expensive and most of the time not great ala Venice. Both places have a large amount of tourists who might not know or care that the food is not the same level that you find in other areas of Italy.
I would love to visit Portofino. Your post is very helpful.
We ate at a very pleasant wine bar on the port (at the far end of the more touristy area). It’s pretty easy to recognize because of the bottles of good wine lined up inside. They don’t serve hot food; you sit at a table and they have wines by the glass and salumi.
It wasn’t the cheapest wine & charcuterie I’ve ever had (I think it was €30 for two glasses of wine and the meats for 2), but it was pleasant and not a tourist trap, and the owner was really nice.
I haven’t been and your pictures do nothing to lessen my urge to go! Totally stinks about the restaurant, though. How *do* you mess up pesto? :-)
These pics are gorgeous! I studied abroad in Italy for a summer and these pics take me right back. I have got to take my husband to Portofino – and Cinque Terre!
Gorgeous photos Sara!
And a bad bowl of pasta w pesto in Liguria – that’s like messing up pizza in Naples…
I have better memories of Portofino in low season than high season – Santa Margherita Ligure, San Fruttuoso, and Camogli are better bets in high season.
I have to admit that as much as Portofino appeals to my aesthetic sense, I would be fine if I never went again. In my estimation, there are dozens of destinations on the San Remo- LaSpezia stretch of coastline that beat it out – places like Camogli, Lerici, Portovenere, Noli.
Having said that, one of my favorite memories is sitting on the far, far side of the yacht harbor, watching the local kids dive into the water to cool down on a hot summer day.
The ride on the ridge from Portofino to Camogli is breathtaking.
Living two towns away from Portofino we are pretty familiar with it. Also not to be missed on a trip there is the short walk/hike out to the faro (lighthouse) – you’ll pass through some pretty country. You can also get off the bus in Paragi and walk the rest of the way to Portofino which is very pretty and interesting. For that matter you can walk from above Santa Margherita L on a gorgeous trail all the way to Portofino – takes 1.5-2 hours.
Another caveat about eating in Portofino – I don’t believe any of the places take credit cards. Overpriced and cash only.
Here’s a lovely thing to do in Portofino. Go up to the Splendido Hotel and have tea on the terrace. It is a bit expensive for tea (+/- E 15), but it comes in a silver tea service, brought by attentive and kind staff. You can enjoy the view of the little harbor and the town below, and imagine that you are a guest at the hotel (or you can stay at the hotel if you don’t mind paying about E500+/night).
Most fun way to and from Portofino from SML or Rapallo is by ferry – you get to see all the coast. You can also take the ferry to San Frutuoso, the 11th century monastery accessible by boat or fairly arduous hike.
I had a similar experience in Venice, with a restaurant listed favorably in a popular travel guide even. Not only were they expensive, but rude. I started with a soup, and I’m glad I waited to order dinner, because that weak broth was so bad, way worse than canned. Figured it was my sign not to bother trying anything else there.
I was in the area on a small group tour for a cooking school in 1990. Took a boat to Portofino and it was so pretty; all we did was look around and drink some wine, though…all our meals were at the hotel where the chef taught the cooking class. Also walked the Cinque Terra and caught the final train of the day back to mainland, whew!. Best trip I have ever been on. Such friendly people.
Even the restaurants in S M Ligure are expensive and many do not take credit cards. Whether you are there in high season or low season, this is an area, particularly Portofino, of VIPs and the like so good food even at an expensive price is not to be found. It truly is a double edged knife when you get a terrible meal for a ton of money in Italy where good food is a religion.
I’m so glad that you gave a lot of useful tips for traveling in this place! I’m from Serbia, and many people here didn’t hear about such a beautiful places such as Portofino, because many can’t afford it, or many have never heard about such amasing places like Camogli, Monterosso al Mare.. This ‘citta’ ;) also remind me of cities in Cinque Terre cost which i like the most.