This full-day tour is built as an introduction to the whole Liguria coast in one outing, moving from a major historic city to two very different seaside villages.
Your guide meets you in Portofino and drives you to Genoa, birthplace of Christopher Columbus. Your first stop is the panoramic terrace at Castelletto, looking down over the historic center, the port, and the Lanterna lighthouse that has symbolized the city for centuries.
From there you walk the old town, starting near Porta Soprana, one of the surviving gates of the Barbarossa walls built in the 1150s, close to the house where Columbus's family lived and worked as wool weavers between 1455 and 1470 (the building seen today is an 18th century reconstruction, the original having been destroyed in 1684). You continue to Piazza De Ferrari, the modern civic heart of Genoa, home to the Carlo Felice Opera House, then to the 13th century Palazzo Ducale, former seat of the Republic of Genoa's government.
In Piazza San Matteo, the best preserved medieval quarter in the city, black and white striped facades and porticoes mark the old territory of the powerful Doria family. Nearby, the church of Sant'Andrea is considered a high point of Genovese Baroque, and the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, built between the 12th and 14th centuries, blends Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance work from its many phases of construction.
From Genoa you drive to Camogli, a fishing village on the Tigullio coast where the houses are painted in the strong colors typical of the region. You have free time for a Ligurian lunch on your own (meal not included); pasta col pesto and focaccia di Recco are the local specialties worth seeking out.
Your day finishes back in Portofino, where the golden late-afternoon light over the small harbor is part of the appeal. Your guide walks you along the water and up toward the church of San Giorgio and the lighthouse path, giving you a last, unhurried look at the village before you head back.
Review Location- Portofino 
