On Monday, August 23, we woke up in Genova to proceed to the southernmost point of our trip – Italian Riviera.
We took an advice of our host Stephan (75% sure the name is correct) to avoid more popular and more remote Cinque Terre. We dropped our bags and started to drive further South towards Recco. That was the exit we were instructed to take off a highway.
Recco itself seemed a bit too crowded. We only stopped here for supermarket and maps, and proceeded further on local road to Camogli.
There is plenty of free parking along the winding road to the sea, but we could only find a fee parking adjacent to the rail station (1.5€/hour 18€/Max).
The heart of Camogli is crescent shaped shore with colorful houses growing right next to the beach. The cars are on the other side, so it creates this atmosphere of a resort. Water, boats, sand, walkways, restaurants, vendors, but no cars. It is very cozy, and makes you forget about “outside”.
Middle of a crescent has a cluster of structures along with Castel and Basilica that separates beach and port area. That creates an interesting obstruction for eyes to explore. Let this design be a model for a perfect sea village.
We wanted to go to a famous Portofino, but boat companies separated zones of influences, so you need to get 10€ ticket to an intermediate San Fruttuoso, and a 10€ from there to a cornerstone Portofino.
| Boating from Camogli to San Fruttuoso and hiking to Portofino | Impressionistic Camogli | Tropical Italy on the way to Portofino |
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Around 13:00 we jumped on the boat to San Fruttuoso. It is a second stop and it is about 25 minutes away. What makes this blob of land special is its height. It is growing right out of the sea to the height of 610m or 2001 feet. Land reaches 200m (2 football stadiums) very fast and forms the bulk of the monster.
San Fruttuoso is a tiny patch of flat land, but it has enough to fit an abbey, a restaurant and a couple of tiny beaches. Very cozy. Very picturesque.
For the second leg of our trip we decided to take a hike to Portofino. We had water in our bag and sandals on our feet. It started easy and fun, but path turned higher and harder. It was a point in a hike, when I wanted to turn back. It seemed too far, it seemed too high, it seemed too late, but Lira as usual advised just to keep going, and it totally paid off. The last portion of the hike went on the cobblestone road lined with villas and gardens. Also, it turned downhill – a welcome sign.
In a little under 2 hours we reached Portofino (around 16:30) and learned that we have exactly one hour to examine the place till the next and last boat to San Fruttuoso. Luckily Portofino is tiny. We slide along the narrow port and quickly reached Parco del Castello Brown. Here port ends and a quick climb to the castle begins.
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Castle dominates above the village and most pictures of Portofino are taken from up there. And there are plenty of passages and ladders to explore.
The only exciting event on the way back was that we were the only passengers to San Fruttuoso, and they had to turn the other boat back, so we could jump the ships. Around 18:30 we arrived back to Camogli and decided to stay here.
We pick a hotel (Inn) on very edge of the port with a perfect lighthouse and port view from two corner windows of the building. For 150€ a night it would be the most expensive stay of the entire trip (Locanda I Tre Merli).
Navigate through the List
- 01 Preparation for the Swiss Trip in August 2010 (2017/07/25)
- 02 August 14-15, 2010: Zurich (2017/07/29)
- 03 August 16-17, 2010: Luzern - Bern - Fribourg (2017/08/02)
- 04 August 18-19, 2010: Fribourg – Montreux (Nabokov) – Geneva (2017/08/06)
- 05 August 20, 2010 - Wake in Switzerland, Eat in France, Sleep in Italy (2017/08/10)
- 06 August 21,2010: It’s a Mountain Time – Rifugio Monzino (2017/08/14)
- 07 August 22, 2010: Genova – Columbus and Paganini (2017/08/18)
- 08 August 23, 2010: Camogli – San Fruttuoso – Portofino and Back (2017/08/22)
- 09 August 24, 2010: From Mediterranean to Lake Como and Bellagio (2017/08/26)
- 10 August 25, 2010: Around Bellagio - Pescallo, Regatola, S. Giovanni (2017/08/30)
- 11 August 26, 2010: Back to Switzerland - Airolo (2017/09/03)
- 12 August 27, 2010: St. Gotthard Pass and Lake Lucendro (2017/09/07)
- 13 August 28, 2010: Seewen - Rapperswil-Jona - Winkel (2017/09/11)
- 14 August 29, 2010: The End - From Zurich to Boston (2017/09/15)
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