Tours in Portofino

Start at the harbour, and sit down before you do anything else. Portofino is small enough that the whole place is arranged around one little square of water, with painted houses stacked up behind it and boats tied so close they seem to lean on each other. Order a coffee, watch who comes and goes, and you will understand the village faster than any map could explain it.

Then walk out. The lane that climbs toward the lighthouse is the best short stroll here, shaded in places, with the sea showing through the trees and the headland dropping away on both sides. Up at Castello Brown you get the view people photograph all season, the harbour curled below you like a cupped hand. The church of San Giorgio sits above the village too, and it is quieter than the waterfront by a wide margin.

But Portofino makes the most sense from the water, and that is where we would put your time. The coast around here is steep, green and almost roadless in places, so a boat shows you things a car never will. You can slip past the lighthouse, anchor in a clear bay and swim, then look across at Camogli and Santa Margherita Ligure with their tall, faded facades facing the sea. San Fruttuoso, tucked into its cove with the abbey right on the beach, is a place you reach by boat or on foot, and arriving by sea feels right.

Back on land, eat what the Ligurian coast does well: trofie with pesto, focaccia still warm, anchovies, a glass of something cold and white. If there is a building or corner of the Riviera you want to see that is not on our list, ask. A local guide can build a day around it.