Discover Portofino: Churches, Coastal Trails and Marine Reserve

Portofino combines a historic town center with trails through the Parco di Portofino and excursions in the marine reserve. This gives your travel planning churches, landscapes, wildlife observation and physical activity within a compact thematic area. At the same time, the pedestrian zone and the special parking regulations shape how you organize your stay and choose your accommodation.

Churches and historical traces

In Portofino’s historic center, the orthogonal street plan from the Roman imperial period has been preserved. The Chiesa Divo Martino dates from the 12th century and was originally designed in the Lombard Romanesque style. Both buildings give the town center a historical dimension that is not limited to individual sights during a walk, but also remains visible in the layout of the streets.

The Chiesa di San Giorgio was first built in 1154. As a result of wartime actions, it was destroyed four times and rebuilt each time. The church houses votive paintings donated by sailors in the past century. Beneath the main altar, in a sacrarium carved into hard puddingstone, are the relics of most of the body of Saint George. Admission to the Chiesa di San Giorgio is free.

The terrace of Castello Brown is also one of the town’s cultural points of interest: it is used for art exhibitions. This combines Portofino’s historic character with a contemporary use without losing sight of the older building fabric.

Plan your arrival and accommodation carefully

Portofino is a pedestrian zone. Vehicle traffic and parking are permitted only for authorized persons. If you arrive by car, the covered paid parking garage at Piazza Martiri della Libertà is an important point of reference: it is open around the clock. When choosing your hotel or accommodation, you should take these local conditions into account in your planning without assuming a particular location or range of amenities.

Hiking in the Parco di Portofino

The Parco di Portofino has 80 kilometers of marked trails across just over 1,500 hectares. The park is accessible from Portofino. Trail markings and a detailed hiking map also make it easier for less experienced hikers to find their way and choose a suitable route. The park therefore provides a clear basis if you would like to include nature experiences and physical activity in your stay.

The Fosso dell’Acqua Viva pedestrian route offers a special combination of landscape and history. It leads as a hiking trail through the Valle dei Mulini. There, 35 mills were powered by permanently flowing water channels. The route therefore represents a landscape in which natural water flow and former use are interconnected.

The rocks of the Portofino promontory provide a habitat for the rare endemic species Saxifraga cochlearis, which has white summer flowers. From the promontory, peregrine falcons can occasionally be observed, particularly above Cala dell’Oro. These two facts make the area’s natural environment interesting also for visitors who pay attention to plants and animals while hiking.

Sea and steep coastal slopes

In the Portofino marine reserve, visitors can use canoes or kayaks and take excursions alone or in groups. This adds a perspective from the water to the trails on land. When planning your day, you can therefore choose between cultural stops, hiking trails and an excursion in the marine reserve as different focal points.

A structure rises above the sea area on the eastern projection of the promontory. It can be reached via the same path as Castello Brown. The path leads through areas of Mediterranean maquis and over steep coastal slopes. The combination of the route, vegetation and slopes describes a distinctly varied coastal landscape and complements the historic impressions of the town center.

For further travel decisions, you can also include Borzonasca, Mele, Sori, Pegli, Bogliasco, Sestri Levante, Orero and Torrazza in your planning: Borzonasca, Mele, Sori, Pegli, Bogliasco, Sestri Levante, Orero, Torrazza.

To the main travel overview: Genoa.