Travel Guide & 1-day Itinerary for the Portofino Peninsula, Italy, Enjoy the Italian Riviera!

Welcome to Wild Meadow Studio’s Travel Blog, where we “Focus on the Journey” from first stages of planning to the last flight home and everything in-between! We’re excited to share our latest Travel Guide for the stunning Portofino Peninsula, which includes top things to do and our 1-day itinerary as well as some helpful tips mixed in to ensure you enjoy this beautiful, ritzy part of the Italian Riviera!

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Table of contents:

1. Top 5 Things to do on the Portofino Peninsula.
2. 1-Day Itinerary for the Portofino Peninsula
3. References
4. The Wrap up

1. Top 5 Things to do on the Portofino Peninsula

1. Explore Santa Margherita:

Santa Margherita is a great starting point when exploring the stunning Portofino Peninsula but could also be a great option as a place to stay while exploring the Italian Riviera, because of its great location. On the faster trains that we booked through our OMIO app, Santa Margherita is approx. 30 mins from Levanto and 30 mins the other direction from Genoa, with so many amazing towns in-between. Santa Margherita is one more breathtaking seaside town along the Italian Riviera coast. It has a great beach with pretty change huts decorated with flowers, colourful buildings all along the water, bright coloured churches, lots of restaurants and cafés, a palm tree-lined promenade and a pretty harbour. You could definitely spend a whole day here, but our mission was to see as much of the Portofino Peninsula as we could in one day! So, we opted for breakfast and a little exploring. From here you have 3 choices to get to Portofino, you can take the ferry, the bus or hike. The hike is about 5 Kms along the coast passing cliffside views and the beautiful Paraggi Beach, closer to Portofino, there are definitely hills, it’s not a flat walk, but rewarding. Count on close to 1.5 to 2hrs. The ferry leaves from the dock, (pointed out on the map below), it takes approx. 15mins and cost about 9 – 10 euros and comes hourly at a quarter past the hour, but always check before you go as prices and times can change. The bus is what we opted for, it runs more frequently and cost closer to 2 – 3 euros, it also takes about 15mins, both the starting point and drop off are also indicated on the map below.

2. Take in the stunning views from Browns Castle, Portofino

Dating back to the 5^th century the impressive Browns Castle sits on top of the hill overlooking the stunning town of Portofino and its harbour. You can also see the Ligurian Sea, and other hilltop villas sprinkled in and around the area, these views are best seen from the castle’s pretty terrace. The entrance fee to the Castle and grounds is 8 euros for adults and free for those under 12. They open at 10:00am and close between 6:00 and 7:00pm except in the winter they close at 4:00pm, but again always check before you go as this might change. While you’re up in that area (you climbed all those stairs to get there, so you might as well), you can walk to the light house, located at the very tip of the peninsula. Here there are (yes you guessed it) more beautiful views. Plus, they have a few interesting restaurants, so depending on your hunger level, you could have your lunch here.

3. Lunch and Stroll in Portofino:

Strolling around Portofino is quite the sight, they have everything form huge, beautiful yachts and sailboats to fishing boats and rowboats all in the harbour. They have colourful buildings lining the water with high-end shops, restaurants and cafés. The restaurants here are pretty expensive, but with amazing views. We ate at La Gritta, which is on a floating dock, the views were great, and the food was good, but the prices were very expensive for what we got. They have a sitting fee of 5 euros each, a bottle of still water was 10 euros, our ice teas and cokes were 14 euros each and our pizzas were 30 euros each, making it 108 euros for the 2 of us, plus tax and tip (if you decide to give one). So, although we enjoyed our lunch, we wouldn’t do that again. We could have gone to one of the sandwich shops, done take out and ate by the water. So, depending on what your budget is you do have some options. For us, just walking around this beautiful fishing village turned ritzy resort was something we won’t soon forget!

4.  Ferry to Abbazia di San Fruttuoso with a swim:

The San Fruttuoso Abbey is a historic Benedictine monastery located on the peninsula between Portofino and the seaside village of Camogli. It was founded in the 8^th century by Greek monks, by the 13^th century the Abbey became closely associated to the Doria family, who expanded the church, added a family mausoleum and constructed a watch tower in 1562 to help protect them from pirate raids. Today it’s run by a nonprofit organization that helps to preserve and promote Italy’s heritage. The Abbey can still only be reached by ferry or hiking trails, helping to keep it’s secluded intimate atmosphere. If you like scuba diving or snorkelling, another point of interest is the 15ft statue of Christ of the Abyss that was submerged into the San Fruttuoso Bay in 1954 to honour a diver who tragically lost his life there. You can also see a replica of the statue in the Abbey. For the scuba diving or snorkelling, there are excursions available for different skill levels.

5. Dinner and Sunset in Camogli:

Camogli is a picturesque fishing village located on the other side of the Portofino Peninsula. It’s known for its colourful waterfront houses, pebble beach and bustling harbour. It attracts both locals and tourists as it isn’t as busy as some of the neighboring towns. When we first saw Camogli from our ferry, it was breathtaking. If you are looking for somewhere to stay, this could also be a great base to explore the Italian Riviera, as there is a train station here too, making it easy to get around. There are also lots of shops, restaurants, a beach, history, beautiful church on the waterfront and many amazing photo opportunities. For a less expensive meal of some delicious focaccia with toppings try Luca & Paolo’s Italian Food and you can either sit in their small outdoor section or do take out and eat at the beach. For a nice sit-down meal with a great view you could try Ristorante La Camogliese.  

2. 1-Day Itinerary for the Portofino Peninsula:

This map gives you an overview of the Portofino Peninsula and where our suggested points of interest are located. We are suggesting starting in Santa Margherita, because we did this as a day trip from Levanto, but if you’re staying in Camogli or in a town west of there, you could do it the opposite direction, so breakfast and explore Camogli, ferry to the Abbey for a look around and a swim, then ferry to Portofino, explore, browns castle, lighthouse, lunch, then bus, ferry or hike to Santa Margherita for dinner and sunset.

We are suggesting getting to Santa Margherita as early as you can, so that you have enough time to explore and enjoy this amazing peninsula. Starting at Santa Margherita’s train station, follow the crosswalk across the street and you should see a staircase, follow it all the way down and it should bring you out to where you can see the waterfront. Once you reach the water, head right (when facing the water) and walk along the promenade. You’ll pass by some of the beaches with colourful change huts, a park with the town garden and statues, (one of Christopher Columbus as he was said to have spent a lot of time here growing up), and the red “Santa in Love Bench”, a great photo op! From the bench you should see a dock, this is where you catch the ferry, might be a good time to check the schedule while you’re here and see if the ferry would be an option for you or not. Also on this dock is the beautiful marble statue of Santa Margherita, the statue is said to be welcoming sailors into port and protecting the harbour. You can get some great photos of the statue from behind, looking out into the sea, especially near sunrise. Continue walking along the water towards the harbour, on your right you’ll pass by Castello di Santa Margherita Ligure up on the hill, next, around the corner, also on the right, you’ll see a set of curved stairs going up, (see photo below) we happened upon these and were curious, so decided to see what was up there and we were happy we did. It’s the Oratorio di Sant’Erasmo, a beautiful and colourful building, originally built in 1347 and a small square with a vespa and rowboat on display. Another great photo op! At this point you could continue exploring, have breakfast at one of the little cafes or bakeries or just relax and take in the beauty all around! Once you’re ready to move on, you have to decide how you want to get to Portofino, bus, ferry or hike (these options are discussed above in the Top things to do, number 1). For the hike you would continue walking in the same direction you were going in, we’ve already discussed where the ferry port was and you can catch the bus back near the ferry port, as shown on the map above.

Once in Portofino, the bus drops you off right in town, follow the street, Vicolo Dritto, towards the water, whichever way you’ve come to Portofino, head to Piazza Martiri Dell’Olivetta (main square). Once here, take in the views and abundant photo opportunities!! Explore the waterfront, little shops, cafés, bakeries, (we just did some window shopping as it’s fairly expensive). Next head to the end of the walkway along the water on the south side of the harbour and take the stairs up to Browns castle. This is not an easy hike up, but definitely rewarding. The views from the castle terrazzo are stunning. Explore the castle, terrazzo and grounds, then head over to the lighthouse trail, (you should see signs pointing to the lighthouse) it’s about a 15mins walk, but flatter than the previous hike and a beautiful path. At the lighthouse there are also a couple of restaurants, if you’re getting hungry this could be an option for lunch, (Al Faro di Portofino and Il Faretto). Otherwise, you could walk back down into town and either try one of the restaurants along the water (but be aware that any of these restaurants will be expensive) or try one of the sandwich shops, get takeout and eat by the water. Once you’re ready, take the ferry to the San Fruttuoso Abbey.

After lunch you could either take the ferry over to the San Fruttuoso Abbey for a little exploring, or you could hike there depending on time and interest level. We took the ferry over which we quite enjoyed as you go right around the tip of the peninsula and can see the lighthouse from the water, as well as some other pretty sights. Once we got there, we explored the Abbey and area, then decided to rent some beach chairs for approx. 5 euros each, which we thought was pretty reasonable. We were there near the end of September and the water was still really nice. We arrived mid to late afternoon, and had no problem getting the chairs, I did read that you can book the chairs online, but I think you’d only need to do that in peak season. Swimming here was a definite “pinch me” moment! It was so beautiful swimming in this secluded inlet of the Mediterranean with the gorgeous 8^th century Abbey as the backdrop, so incredible!

From the Abbey we are suggesting you take the ferry on to Camogli, our last stop on our one-day Portofino Peninsula Itinerary. Here explore the harbour, walk along the waterfront, check out the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta, a beautiful church right on the cliff side, you can see this church and neighbouring castle from the ferry and it is amazing. Continue along the waterfront and choose a restaurant for dinner, there are a lot of options, from inexpensive focaccia to full seafood meal. Afterwards pick a spot along the ocean to sit and enjoy a beautiful Mediterranean sunset. Lastly, head to the train station to catch your ride back to your accommodation.

3. References:

All this information, research and suggestions came from our own experiences we had while exploring this stunning Peninsula.  As well, we spent countless hours reading travel books, like DK Eyewitness Travel, Italian Riviera and Rick Steves Italy’s Cinque Terre, which has a Portofino Peninsula section in it, and the Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook and Dictionary. I also read multiple Travel blogs and Portofino tourism websites like, Portofino Tourism.

4. The Wrap up:

 We hope you enjoy this exciting day trip on the Italian Riviera and our suggested itinerary for this beautiful, ritzy part of Italy as much as we did and find this information helpful. I have added links to some of our top sights so you can check them out and see what piques your interest. If you have any questions, ask away. Feel free to comment, give advice, join our mailing list, follow, like, pin, share with friends, anything goes. Let’s talk Travel!

Thank you,

From, Wild Meadow Studio

Where we help you, Focus on the Journey,

www.wildmeadowstudio.com