Visiting Portofino part 1

Visiting Portofino 1

The Riviera di Levante is part of the Italian coast that many people can overlook. If you are driving south on the A12 you can dismiss Genoa and the coastal area as you head towards more inviting areas. However this is a stunningly beautiful area and warrants some time for a stopover. The beautifully coastal resorts and villages are truly wonderful and result from nature creating bays and inlets and the locals building on what would seem to be impossible sites, as homes and towns cling to the rocks. There is a sharp contrast from the flat sea to the steep mountains and hills right on the waters edge. The further inland you travel the steeper it gets as the area turns into a series of jagged valleys and ravines.

The Riviera di Levante is a slim strip of land that follows the coast. It starts just south of Genoa and runs as far as the region of Lunigiana. The mountain and valley region do not attract as many people as the resorts and beaches that are spaced along the coast. However they do plenty of towns that have both historical and architectural features. These include the towns of Varese Ligure, Sarzana and the ruins at Luni. Historical places in the region that are worth a visit include the forts of Sarzana, the churches of San Salvatore dei Fieschi and Sant’Andrea di Borzone and the abbey of San Fruttuoso.

The Riviera di Levante is home to a number of picturesque resorts which include Santa Margherita and Rapallo; however the jewel in the crown is Portofino. This was once the playground of European aristocrats, but is now mainly populated by Italians and those with copious wealth. Tourism started in this area in the early 1800s as it was fairly easy to reach from central Europe. However as with most successful areas this has meant, over time, the arrival of large scale tourism. On occasions this causes popular places to be very crowded.

If you are travelling around the region by car then the two towns below are both on the coast, offer reasonable value for money and are within easy distance of Portofino. We choose to stay at Santa Margherita as it just seemed nicer to us.

Santa Margherita a small and attractive town which has been made visually more attractive by the planting of cypress and palm trees around the beach area. The town is nestled into an inlet and has a good mix of average hotels, grand hotels and garden villas all with views of the bay. Santa Margherita is far cheaper to stay in than Portofino and we think less crowded than Rapallo. It makes a good base for taking boats up and down the coast and for exploring the countryside by car.

Rapallo is larger and has a more the feel of a developed resort than a small coastal town. The south facing bay has a lot of restaurants and good hotels all of which have put a premium of views of that bay. The result, large areas of glass, seems a bit soulless to me and while the individual places all seemed nice the overall effect was not a place that I wanted to stay. There is a quite nice old town hidden away behind the seafront hotels; also a small castle at the end of a little causeway which has been converted into an exhibition space. While the bay looks very nice Rapallo’s beaches are nothing to write home about. There is a small area of shingle right by the castle which is free but if you want something better then you will have to pay for beaches on the other side of the bay.