Hello dear Travelers!

While I am sipping a strong Italian espresso I just realized – today is the perfect day to share with YOU my fabulous boat trip to Portofino.

Let me kidnap YOU today to the most famous and charming paradise  of Italian Riviera = highly fashionable fishing village. 🙂

Portofino =Port of the Dolphin, because of the large number of dolphins. But I have never seen there any. I guess they are hiding from me, who wouldn’t! 

This is the joint to be – the A list celebrities since 1950s, when Fred Buscaglione composed a famous song – LOVE in Portofino, immediately this little village became the ultimate joint for rich and famous people.

This very special and very romantic harbor is filled with the most expensive yachts, everyone who ever meant something in Hollywood were here – Greta Garbo, Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly and the list is endless.

Everywhere colorful and beautiful villas – one house is owned by Silvio Berlusconi and many of them are owned by famous people such as Dolce and Gabbana and many others.

There are 3 ways to conquer Portofino:

1. by a CAR – in the high season – almost impossible finding a parking place, not even mentioning the price for the parking ticket. So going to explore Portofino by car isn’t exactly a good idea.

2. by a TRAIN – take a train to Santa Margherita – this is the nearest town – than walk to a bus station. I wouldn’t walk from Santa Margherita all the way to Portofino but up to YOU!

3. by a BOAT *(ferry)  – YES! That’s the easiest and much more relaxing and fun way to get around. Check out the fares  here.

So I took the boat with my friend and it was fabulous! On the way from Camogli to Portofino we passed by Punta Chiappa, San Frutuoso, we seen all the beauty of the Natural Park of Portofino and then we had a chance to see all the Portofino and finally docked in the harbor.

What a great ride! Well invested 10 eur! 😀

I absolutely love, how all the little colorful houses are mirroring in the sea….so we sat down and enjoyed the sounds of waves and view of all the diamonds floating on the water. Than we went to explore the Castello Brown and the garden. We walked up to the hills of Natural Park of Portofino, just to be able to explore the secret beach and also to be able to see the panoramic view of Portofino. It was an amazing experience!

We enjoyed very much the view and from up there, I felt like I supervise all the big fishes in the small pond. 😀

It is always good to see the things from a different perspective.

I absolutely fell in love with all the little streets, so tiny and filled with lights and life and glamorous shops like – Prada, Dior, LV  and the fact that all of this is happening in a fishing village.

Every time I could see arriving another gorgeous giant yacht. Everywhere is a luxury breathing on YOU.

Than I walked on the port and I seen a man using his toothbrush to clean the name of one of the expensive yachts.

If YOU are the type of employee, who complain about his work – IMAGINE doing this in front of everybody who are enjoying the walk and staring at YOU! 😀 Lol

Camogli is way more lay back but Portofino is the joint to be seen, but both of the places are well hidden treasure in Golf of Paradise.

If  YOU want to feel how rich and famous people live and feel, come to Portofino.

You can’t miss the famous Puny restaurant – the food is outstanding and everyone famous went here and come here!
But even price of pasta is over 20 eur, but hey what we would expect from the place, where everyone want to be seen?
That’s the price we pay for having a dinner in a place, where Elizabeth Taylor got engaged to Richard Burton.
And the famous dish – Pasta Portofino – it is a heavenly tasty.
It is a perfect marriage = when Genovese pesto ( pesto from basil) meet tomatoes. I will share with YOU the Genovese home-made pesto recipes and also Pasta Portofino in my future post.

Speaking about a perfect marriage – while we were in Portofino, we saw an amazing preparation for a wedding. I must say – Portofino is a dream place for weddings and honeymoons.

Points of interests:

Castello Brown – what a view, wonderful location

Orathory of Santa Maria Assunta

Church of San Giorgio

Church st. Martin

U Pin – agriturismo – on the top of the National Park of Portofino is a restaurant with homemade tasty meals with an amazing view. Make sure YOU book your table in advance, they are always full.

Ok Portofino was fun, than we decided to not take the boat back to Camogli, but we took a bus – because 1st half of the road from Portofino to Santa Margherita is too narrow, so it is dangerous to walk on the street. I seen there many times people getting almost hit by a car. So my recommendation is – take a bus from Portofino and jump out on the stop called Paraggi.

Paraggi is a great beach with a disco club, where YOU can have a refreshing swim and then continue partying or to keep walking to Santa Margherita – 4 km.

I think also important is to mention –  Hotel Eight on the way – because this is the only place, where YOU can get a special gluten-free menu in this part of Riviera.

So have I tempted YOU to come to Portofino ?