From Camogli to Portofino

Una versione italiana è disponibile qui: Da Camogli a Portofino

At the time of the Maritime Republics - and even earlier - the Portofino Harbor had already been identified by the genoeses as a shelter for their commercial ships in distress. At later times, the morphology of the territory had definitively characterized this place the way it was perceived until a few decades ago: a simple village with boats going back and forth and fishing net out in the sun.

Nowadays, Portofino is something different: the jet-set yachts mooring at Molo Umberto I, look a bit disproportionate compared to the delicate and naive nature of this place while the one-day-tourists are patiently queuing from Santa Margherita to get ingested by the public car park in Piazza della Libertà.

In addition to those cited above, you can get in Portofino in many different ways but strolling there throught the trails in the promontory, definitively worth the fatigue. You will be paid back by breathing inside the landscape, step by step. Moreover, unlike many other magical places on the earth, the row of pastel-colored houses that makes Portofino famous, still seems to resist the consumption of the modern times. Here and there, you could occasionally hear some american travellers - usually devoted to the charming atmosphere of the italians's northern lakes - whispering a "My God, it's unbelievable."

This place retains also a good memory of the Dolce Vita protagonists: it is likely that Portofino offered to the many who have been there some unforgettable moments. Francesco Leoni - an italian photographer - has produced many award-winning shots: Kim Novak, Prince Ranieri, and his family, Orson Welles, and his dog.

Should you want (or need) to devour all at once, the must that can''t be refused are half a dozen: start at the famous piazzetta, take a walk along the Calata Marconi and climb up to the Church of St. George and then go straight to Castello Brown. You have to get to the lighthouse too. There is something somewhat magnificent in the beauty of the corners and balconies without a name. You can capture those scenes in your camera, to be lost and found next time you will be back. For those who have the luck.

It is used to say that to spend a vacation in Portofino can be very expensive. Not necessarily true... You can get here cheap and easy, if you want, and be part of it better than a five stars guest. You can literally touch the feelings described and sketched here by trekking from Camogli to San Fruttuoso and then again San Fruttuoso to Portofino. They are all connected by a mesh of paths and variations to accommodate the daring ones and the contemplative too.

Located on the other side of the promontory over Portofino, Camogli is a place of ancient seafaring traditions, a grid of narrow streets that date back from the sea, huge and colorful houses that form together the so-called palazzata. Camogli is also famous for its traditional festivals such as the sagra del pese, held every second sunday of may. The "City of a thousand white sailboats," has an ancient port that has preserved intact over the centuries its atmosphere.

Around Camogli - a little over the top, on the western side of the promontory of Portofino - is the village of San Rocco. From its belvedere you can get a stunning view of the sea and the town of Camogli. San Rocco is a good starting point for hiking on the mountain or taking the boat at Punta Chiappa to reach the austere San Fruttuoso Abbey, once home of Benedictine monks built between X' XI century in the Capodimonte cove.

Santa Margherita Ligure has Roman origin, then transformed from fishing village to tourist resort of international fame for a wealthy client: royal families, leading politicians and industrialists, celebrities from the entertainment world. Tourist destination among the most classical to the beauty of the landscape enhanced the elegance of its houses, its villas and heritage hotels. Santa Margherita evidences of great artistic value in its Romanesque and Baroque churches, the Villa Durazzo, embellished by a splendid park overlooking the sea and the Cervara Abbey, enchanting and rich in its history, situated on the stretch of coast that goes from Santa Margherita to Portofino.