Portofino is a tiny fishing village on the Ligurian coast southeast of Genoa, set at the base of a promontory covered in Monte di Portofino Natural Park. Its harbour is barely large enough for 300 boats, its streets barely wide enough for two people to pass — and yet it is one of the most famous villages in Italy, photographed and visited by the wealthy since the late 19th century. The coloured houses around the Piazzetta, the hilltop Castello Brown, and the surrounding blue-green sea are genuinely as beautiful as the postcards suggest.
Because of its popularity and difficult access, Portofino works best as a day trip from Santa Margherita Ligure (6 km by road or coastal path) or Rapallo. Parking in the village is extremely limited; in summer, traffic queues back to Santa Margherita. The ferry from Rapallo or Genoa is a far more pleasant option.
The natural park is the real draw for active visitors: over 80 km of marked paths run across the promontory through Mediterranean macchia, connecting Portofino to Santa Margherita, Camogli, and the spectacular San Fruttuoso Abbey. The shorter walk to the Portofino lighthouse at the very tip of the promontory takes only an hour return. The diving around the headland is excellent — clear water, a rich reef, the wreck of the Mohawk Deer, and the famous Christ of the Abyss statue.