The Italian Riviera is a stunning stretch of coastline that runs along the Ligurian Sea from the French border to Tuscany. It covers all four provinces of Liguria with their capitals: Imperia, Savona, Genoa and La Spezia, spanning about 350 km (218 miles) in total. The Riviera is traditionally divided into two sections: the Riviera di Ponente on the west and the Riviera di Levante on the east.
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We took a leisurely boat trip from Genoa to Portofino, exploring a third of the Riviera di Levante and avoiding the notorious roads and traffic near Portofino. In this post, we will share our impressions of the port of Genoa, and the charming seaside towns we passed by up to Camogli, just before the Portofino promontory.
If you like to join us on this epic road trip from the beginning in Switzerland, click here for the first post of the series.
From our hotel, it was a short 5-minute stroll to the pier where we boarded our boat. The harbor was lively with maritime traffic, as small and large sailboats and yachts shared the space with colossal cruise ships.
This is MSC Musica.
MSC Cruises is the world’s largest privately-owned cruise line and fourth largest cruise company in the world.
As we leave the harbor, we saw more cruise ships. This ship from the cruise line Moby offers cargo and passenger services to Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and Elba.
Judging by the name of this large ferry – Eco Cantania, it is likely running a car and truck service to Sicily. The main destinations for the marine traffic are Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Barcelona and Canary Islands.
Port Genova is currently ranked Mediterranean’s second-largest seaport after Marseille in France. Genova is Italy’s busiest cargo ship port by cargo tonnage. We think the orange boats are tug boats operated by the port authority.
The image below generated by Google Earth shows the scale and layout of the port.
We snapped some pictures along the way in this body of coastal water known as Golfo Paradiso (Gulf of Paradise). Between Genova and Camogli, the coast is dotted with seaside resorts, elegant homes, beaches, coves and cliffs, many of them colorful and rich in maritime history (see captions).
We stopped briefly at Camogli’s bustling marina.
The village’s name is said to have derived from the shortened Casa de Moglie. When the ship captains sailed, they left their wives (mogli) in a sort of home for all of them (casa), and the town was well known for this. The colorful houses were said to help fishermen find their way back home.
Camogli was a considerable seaport. In the mid-nineteenth century, Camogli is said to own about 700 sailing ships and represented the third Italian power in the Mediterranean. It was the base for Napoleon’s fleet prior to the Battle of the Nile.
Honestly, we thought the harbor was really crammed and could not imagine a fleet of tall ships stationed here.
On the other side of the port is the city of Camogli and its beach. On a cliff overlooking the sea is the medieval Castel Dragone.
As we continued in the southeast direction (down the side of the Italian “boot”), Camogli is the last coastal town before the wild and rocky Portofino promontory.
If you like to follow us on this epic Italian road trip, click here for the next post.
Thanks to Google Earth again, here is a bird’s eye view of Camogli.
