A guide to Portofino, Italy

Even the trees are more beautiful in Portofino, a diminutive fishing village turned celebrity haunt nestled below steep coastal hills and scented by the fresh aroma of jasmine. Is it expensive and posh? Absolutely. It's also more than a little pretentious, but anyone who isn’t bowled over by Portofino’s chic charm and knockout good looks probably needs to check that they still have a pulse.

The village’s biggest poseurs usually stick to the Piazzetta, a portside square ringed by some of Italy’s most expensive bars and restaurants (€8 cappuccinos anyone?). It’s customary to wet your whistle with an Aperol spritz at tables where Humphrey Bogart and Marcello Mastroianni once held court. Beyond the harbor glitz, Portofino is surrounded by some surprisingly brawny trails encased in a regional park. Just to the north lie three much larger towns, Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo. Loaded with beaches, marinas and pricey seaside attractions, you could easily spend a day exploring each.

When should I go to Portofino

Summer rules, with both sun and tourists at annual highs throughout the region; from June through August, you’ll get to see and be seen among the Dior-clad beachgoers. To avoid crowds, try early spring (April and May) or fall (September and October). But keep in mind that winters (December into March) are mild enough to enjoy plenty along this pretty peninsula.

How much time should I spend in Portofino

On a divine three-day weekend, you can explore all of Portofino’s charming villages and relax with an Aperol in the afternoons. Bump it up to five days and you can explore Genoa and Cinque Terre too.

Is it easy to get in and around Portofino

The towns of Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo can all be accessed on the main east-west train line. Regular services connect Genoa, La Spezia and everywhere in between.

You can catch bus 782, which links Santa Margherita station with Portofino, or even walk the 4km around the bay. Regular boats ferry between Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure, Portofino and San Fruttuoso.

Top things to do in Portofino

Sunbathe on Italy’s poshest beach

Roughly 1km north of Portofino’s harbor lies Paraggi, an exclusive but suitably dazzling beach where a sun lounger and umbrella will set you back a cool €200 at a private beach club. For the hoi polloi, a tiny scoop of public beach or a narrow section of rocks is accessible by a ladder from which you can launch into the turquoise water.

Take in the views from Castello Brown

After wandering through Portofino and admiring the superyachts and designer shops, climb the steep hill to Castello Brown, the fourth incarnation of an early-medieval castle transformed by British diplomat Montegue Yeats-Brown into a private mansion in 1867. The grounds are exquisite, and the neo-Gothic rooms are filled with black-and-white photos of Portofino’s erstwhile celebs (is that Elizabeth Taylor I see?). A reasonably priced (for Portofino) cafe is set up on the terrace. 

Hike to an abbey’s hidden beach

This tiny boat-in beach – backed by a weighty 10th-century abbey, Abbazia di San Fruttuoso, and cut off from the road network by the rugged cliffs of the Portofino promontory – is an open secret among tourists with a little under-the-radar knowledge and consequently gets its fair share of summer day-trippers. Most arrive on passenger boats from Camogli or Santa Margherita, while the more adventurous opt to hike in. Trek from Camogli via Toca and Pietre Strette (7km) or venture from Portofino on the wooded Base Zero trail (4km). Info centers in Santa Margherita and Camogli give out free walking maps of the natural park. All trails are clearly signposted.  

Access to most of San Fruttuoso’s beach is free, and the seawater is crystal clear. Lurking behind is a basic cafe and a couple of semi-alfresco restaurants. A tour of the abbey is well worth the entry fee. 

Explore Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino

The Portofino peninsula’s 60km of narrow trails are a world away from the sinuous sports-car-lined road from Santa Margherita Ligure. Many of them are blissfully remote, and all are free of charge. On the ground, the network is meticulously signposted, and tourist offices in Camogli, Portofino and Santa Margherita give out excellent free maps. A good but tough day hike (there are exposed sections) is the 18km coastal route from Camogli to Santa Margherita Ligure via San Fruttuoso and Portofino, which tracks around the entire peninsula. There are handy train connections at both ends.

My favorite thing to do in Portofino

Yes, it’s expensive, and yes, it can get a little crowded, but despite the €8 cappuccinos and unashamed piazza poseurs, I’ve always loved Portofino. I usually approach it on the rugged Passo di Baccio trail, a tricky traverse across a cliff that requires firm handholds and steely nerves. Descending into the village from this rugged mini-wilderness, I get an entirely different view than the assembled crowds of yachters. By the time I reach the busy harborside, my shirt soaked in sweat and my fingernails full of dirt, I’m more than ready for a plate of fresh anchovies and a civilized glass of wine – whatever the price. 

How much money do I need for Portofino?

Make no mistake, Portofino is pricey, but as a longtime celebrity bolthole that thinks of itself as the epitome of Italian style and panache, this glitzy and gorgeous peninsula is the kind of place that everyone should experience at least once.

• Night at the Villa Rosmarino in Camogli: €177

• Entrance fee to San Fruttuoso Abbey: €9

• Cappuccino on the piazza: €8

• Dinner at Ristorante Puny: from €35

Where to eat in Portofino

• Ristorante Puny is expensive, but its excellent food comes with celeb-worthy service at arguably the best harborside spot in Portofino.

• Dockside in Santa Margherita, L'Alturo Eden serves risotto with fresh prawns just off the boat.

• A classic backstreet trattoria in Rapallo, Ö Bansin offers up Ligurian classics served with molto amore (much love).

• For superb mandili (paper-thin lasagne-like pasta doused in pesto), head to Wine Art, tucked into a cute beach between Santa Margherita and Rapallo. 

If you’re traveling in May

Head to Camogli on the second weekend of May for the annual Sangra del Pesce, a huge fish fry that takes place with hundreds of the local catch cooked in 3m-wide pans along the waterfront (tuna and anchovies are favorites). The night before the festival an effigy of the patron saint, San Fortunato, is carried through town, and two giant bonfires are ignited at midnight, competing in size and magnificence. 

Pretty Camogli remains a working fishing hub – the town’s name means "House of Wives," hailing from the days when the women residents did the grunt work while the fishers were away at sea.