This short walking tour is built for guests who want to see Portofino properly on foot rather than just pass through it as part of a longer day elsewhere.
Portofino has been a magnet for high society for over a century, but its history goes back much further. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder recorded that it was founded by the Romans and named Portus Delphini, Port of Dolphins, for the large numbers that once filled the gulf, and archaeologists have found traces of a Roman watchtower here dating to the 3rd century AD. From 1129 the port belonged to the Republic of Genoa, sheltering its merchant fleet in the natural harbor that still gives the village its shape today. Writers and thinkers including Nietzsche, Maupassant, and Truman Capote all spent time here, drawn by the same setting that draws guests now.
Your guide leads you first to the Oratory of Santa Maria Assunta, where the traditional Cristi, a large ceremonial crucifix, is kept and carried through the streets during religious processions. From there you climb to the church of San Giorgio at the top of the promontory, with sweeping views back down over the harbor.
Continuing up, you pass Castello Brown, a fortress whose site has guarded this harbor since Roman times; the current structure dates to around the 10th century, was held by the Visconti of Milan starting in 1425, and was later expanded by Genoa in the 1550s into the coastal defense you see today. From there the path continues through the green Regional Park to the lighthouse, built in 1917, and a terrace looking out over the calm waters of the Tigullio Gulf.
By the end of the walk you will understand firsthand why this small harbor has such an outsized reputation.
Review Location- Portofino 
