San Fruttuoso is one of those places that rearranges your sense of the coast. You cannot drive to it. There is no road, no car park, no coach turning circle. There is only a fold in the Portofino promontory where…
Portofino
The Best Time to Visit Portofino
There is something almost theatrical about Portofino. The little harbour, the tall painted houses leaning shoulder to shoulder, the yachts arranged as if by a set designer: it is a place that performs, and the season you choose decides which…
Where to Stay in Portofino
Portofino is tiny, and that changes everything about where you sleep. The village wraps around a single horseshoe harbour, a cluster of ochre and rose houses stacked above fishing boats and, these days, the occasional improbable yacht. The whole place…
Where to Eat in Portofino
Portofino is tiny, and that tininess shapes everything about eating here. The harbour is really one perfect curve of pastel houses around a piazzetta the size of a large drawing room, and almost every table worth having looks straight at…
The Beaches Near Portofino: Paraggi and the Coves
The first thing I tell anyone who arrives on this stretch of the Ligurian Riviera dreaming of golden sand is to adjust the picture in their head, gently. Portofino is one of the most photographed corners of Italy, but it…
The Best Photo Spots in Portofino
Portofino is tiny, and that is precisely what makes it so photogenic. The whole village folds around a single deep-green harbour, the pastel houses stacked so tightly they seem to lean on one another, and everything you might want to…
The Best Things to Do in Portofino
The trick with Portofino is that it is tiny, and knowing this changes everything about how you spend your time. The village wraps around a single small harbour, and you can walk from one end of it to the other…
How to Get to Portofino (and Get Around)
Portofino is small, so small that the question of how to reach it matters more than the map suggests. There is no motorway exit with its name on it, no airport, no train station of its own. The village sits…
Portofino – the Third Day
When I woke this morning, I decided not to chase anything. The sea would still be there tomorrow, the harbour would still be beautiful, and the paths would wait as they always have. Some places ask you to see more….
Portofino – the Second Day
Some days you give to the town, and some you give to the sea. This one belonged to the water from the moment I woke, when the light on the ceiling was already moving the way it only does when…
Portofino – the First Day
You arrive in Portofino, and it is smaller than you imagined, and then, almost immediately, it feels exactly the right size. The road ends because there is nowhere left for it to go. The hills fold themselves gently into the…
