WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN PORTOFINO?
You probably heard a lot about Portofino and want to go and visit, but you wonder: What is there to see and do? Is it worth going? Is it too expensive? On this post I will highlight the best things to see and do in a day in Portofino, Liguria, Italy.
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We woke up at “Affittacamere Casa Dane” in La Spezia (read my previous post on Monterosso al Mare) and went for breakfast at a café on the other side of the road.
This guest house does not have a breakfast room and provides you with a voucher to go and eat your breakfast outside.
It is a simple breakfast that includes only a coffee and a croissant and if you want anything else you must pay extra. We were fine with that and had orange juices, bread and butter as well.
After breakfast we just had to cross the road again and enter the train station to catch a train to Santa Margherita Ligure as we were going to spend the day at Portofino.
It takes about an hour to get to Santa Margherita if you take the fast train.
We always use Omio to book our train tickets when we are travelling. It is an easy and reliable platform and you can also book buses, flights and ferries with them. To book any transport use this link.
We were travelling independently as we are confident travellers and speak a bit of the language. However, if you prefer to be part of a tour and to have everything organised for you, I advise you to book a complete tour with Tourradar.
They have different kinds of tours that will fit your time and budget. If you book it via my links you can get a discount by using this code: RoseG50.
Portofino does not have a train station, so you need to get off at Santa Margherita Ligure station and from there to take a bus to Portofino.
The bus takes about 15 minutes to get there. There are other options such as by boat, by taxi or walking (1:30 hours), but for us the best option was to take the bus. You can buy the bus ticket at a shop by the station or pay the driver directly.
Below is a map showing places to visit in Portofino:
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT PORTOFINO
Portofino is a small town in Liguria on the Italian Riviera.
The ancient town was referred to as Portus Delphini in AD23 – AD79 and mentioned in a diploma from 986. In 1171 it was part of Rapallo’s commune and later part of Republic of Genoa.
Much later, in 1409 it was part of the Republic of Florence. In 1815 it became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia and in 1861 part of the unified Kingdom of Italy.
The town has been the playground of the rich and the aristocracy since the late 19th century.
The rich and famous started building expensive houses on the lush green hillsides and by 1950, tourism had replaced the town main activity: the fishing industry.
As an exclusive resort for the rich, everything (shopping, restaurants, hotels, etc.) is very expensive.
So, if you are not loaded on cash the best thing to do is to spend the day there and stay somewhere else. Somewhere you can find more affordable accommodation such as Santa Margherita Ligure if you want to spend a few days in the area.
Portofino is small and can be visited in a day, so you don’t need to be rich to enjoy the place and see how the rich and famous spend their holidays.
Even if you are not spending more than a day there you can capture the romantic ambiance and the opulence of the surroundings of this charming and cute place.
VISITING PORTOFINO
When we arrived in Portofino, we first explored the harbour area,” Piazza Martiri Dell’Olivetta” (La Piazetta) full of restaurants and high-end boutiques such as Loro Piana, Dior etc.
The buildings around the harbour are all in pastel colours and the fishing boats rub shoulders with luxury yachts completing the scene of a picturesque storybook. This is the image you see in photos of Portofino online and on magazines.
We walked to the “Marina di Portofino” passing through the Museo del Parco, a museum of outdoor sculptures on the luxuriant hillside.
There are some steps on the marina with signs to the castle. We then started the climb in the direction to “Castello San Giorgio – Von Mumm” and the “Chiesa di San Giorgio”. Continuing the climbing we used the same route to go up the hill to visit “Castello Brown” with incredible views of Portofino and “Faro di Portofino” also affording spectacular sea views.
“Castello Brown” is located high on the hill facing the harbour of Portofino. It was an important castle since the 4th century and functioned as a military fortress until the 18th century. It was abandoned and then bought by the Yeats-Brown family, the English consul in Genoa.
The castle has been transformed into a residence and passed to other families throughout the years until it was bought by the municipality of Portofino in 1961. Today the castle is open to the public for visitation and the most attractive part of the visit are the beautiful views from the terraces and the gardens.
Above photos are inside “Castello Brown”
I have a reel on the Travelling Surveyor Instagram showing the views from there. Have a look to see how spectacular the views are.
Continuing the route, we arrived at “Faro di Portofino” (Portofino Lighthouse). It is an active lighthouse that was built in 1917. It is solar powered and completely automated.
The attraction here is again, the sweeping views of the Ligurian Sea. By the lighthouse you can also find “La Portofinese” a bar that you can stop for a drink and rest admiring the lovely views.
We had a drink there and later walked our way back to the” Piazetta” in Portofino.
You can have a boat tour at sunset to admire Portofino from the sea sipping a glass of wine and eating appetizers by booking this tour HERE.
It was lunch time, and the restaurants were busy with all the tables outside occupied.
I read very good reviews about restaurant “Da I Gemelli” and we decided to have lunch there. We were lucky to get the last table outside. I noticed that there were two restaurants “Da I Gemelli” one on each side of the harbour. We went to the one close to the marina.
My main dish was Spaghetti with seafood and my husband’s dish was the twin risotto with sole fillets. We also ordered a bottle of white wine to accompany our lunch.
This was one of the best lunches we had on this trip to Italy. The food was so flavoursome and filling, the wine crisp and delicious. We just loved it.
After lunch we strolled in the historic town and visited the “Chiesa del Divo Martino”, a medieval church with a striped façade.
We walked back to the harbour and decided to go back to Santa Margherita by boat. We boarded the next boat to Sant Margherita and arrived there in about 15 minutes. See video below:
Santa Margherita is another attractive little town on the Ligurian coast. It is less famous than its neighbour Portofino therefore cheaper, but it is as cute and attractive.
We strolled in the promenade and picked a bar to have another drink before going to the train station and back to La Spezia.
If you are staying in Portofino or the area for more than a day, I recommend a private boat tour in Portofino Natural Reserve or Cinque Terre. This is a private tour to a maximum of 4 people that can last the full day with stops to visit some attractions, to dive in the crystal waters and for lunch in a sea-front restaurant of your choice.
This isn’t a £50/head tour. This is for people who really want to have something differentiated and have the cash to splash. Book the tour HERE.
We loved Portofino and it was certainly worth to make the trip from La Spezia to visit the famous town. We would happily go back and recommend it to anyone planning a trip to this area of Italy.
When we arrived in La Spezia we had some rest and later got ready to go out for dinner. We were hoping we would be lucky on that night and find a better restaurant than the one we had dinner on the previous night (see my previous post on Monterosso al Mare).
Luck was on our side because just close to the guest house there was a steak house that seemed to be good, and they had a table available for us. It was called Nana Meat & Wine and it is on the corner of Piazza Saint Bon and Via dello Zampino.
We had a lovely dinner there with steaks, fried potatoes and vegetables. I had a Black Angus steak, and my husband had the Wagyu one. They were both cooked to perfection and marked our last dinner in Italy together with a great bottle of red wine. Bliss!
We walked back to our guest house feeling sad as next day was going to be our last day in Italy, but still excited as we would have time to explore La Spezia before taking the train to Pisa and fly back home.
Back at the hotel we booked our train tickets to Pisa for next day. We always use Omio to book our train tickets. If you want to book train tickets, use this link to book to anywhere in Europe.
I hope this post will give you some idea of what can be done in Portofino in one day and will help you plan your own visit there.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Portofino. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
WHAT TO SEE IN PORTOFINO
ATTRACTIONS
1 – The “Piazetta”, Piazza Martiri Dell’Olivetta – ***
2 – Marina di Portofino – ***
3 – Museo del Parco
4 – Castello San Giorgio
5 – Chiesa di San Giorgio
6 – Castello Brown – ***
7 – Faro di Portofino – ***
8 – Chiesa del Divo Martino ***
WHERE TO STAY
HOTELS
1 – Splendido Mare – 5* – £££
2 – San Giorgio Uno (flat) – £££
3 – Hotel Blu di Te – 4* – £££
4 – Imperiale Palace Hotel – 5* – St. Margherita – £££
5 – Da Higgins – 4* – St. Margherita – £££
6 – Hotel Villa Anita – 3* – St Margherita – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation just search and book via the widget below:
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WHERE TO EAT
RESTAURANTS
1 – Da I Gemelli – *** – £££ (We ate here)
2 – Langosteria – £££
3 – DaV Mare – SplendidoMare Hotel – £££
4 – Ristorante Puny – £££
5 – The Eight – £££
6 – Cracco Portofino – £££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to Italy:
1 – Pisa
2 – Lucca
3 – Florence – Day 1
4 – Florence – Day 2
5 – Siena
6 – Riomaggiore – Cinque Terre
7 – Sentiero Azzuro, Vernassa, Coniglia & Manarola – Cinque Terre
8 – Monterosso al Mare – Cinque Terre
9 – Portofino
10 – La Spezia
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