Portofino harbour

The harbour is the heart of Portofino, a small village on the Ligurian Riviera in Italy with 379 inhabitants (end of 2021) on 2.53 km². A document of 986 assigned the village to the Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte; after a changeable history it belonged to the Republic of Genoa from 1229. From the late 19th century aristocratic visitors arrived, and by around 1950 tourism had replaced fishing as the main industry.

Above the harbour stands the 16th-century Castello Brown; Elizabeth von Arnim’s stay there inspired her novel “The Enchanted April” (1922). The church of San Giorgio is dedicated to the town’s patron saint. In the bay of San Fruttuoso, between Camogli and Portofino, the bronze statue “Christ of the Abyss” has stood at a depth of about 17 m since 1954. Allow half a day for the village and the harbour.

The approach is along narrow, winding roads. It is easier to take the bus from Santa Margherita Ligure or the train to Santa Margherita Ligure–Portofino station, about 5 km away; on foot, the shore road from Santa Margherita takes a little over an hour. Most boutiques are open from about the end of February to the end of October. Weekends are busy and evenings cool down noticeably, so pack a jacket.