Portofino, Italy

We are taking you to one of the prettiest places in Italy. It's the small town of Portofino, Italy, one of those very special destinations, probably in the top hundred of the world, and we are going to show you how to enjoy it. Best, especially in the off-season.
To get there we’re driving from Santa Margherita, which is a nearby town, about three miles along the coastline, it's really scenic.
You can also get there by city bus. It's an inexpensive bus ride under two euro only takes about fifteen minutes.
You arrive at a small parking lot in the little back streets of Portofino and if you're traveling by public bus that is the bus stop.
From here walk along that main little pedestrian shopping lane a few blocks to arrive in a few minutes at the waterfront -- get ready to be dazzled by the beauty of this perfect little place.
It's a very small village, which makes it easy to walk around and enjoy this splendid view of the marina, with beautiful yachts and fishing boats and pleasure craft of all kinds and around it, and the village itself with rows of restaurants and shops, and the old pastel-colored buildings.
When you have a look at the sheltered cove and pretty buildings of this little hamlet you'll see why it has become world-famous.
I suggest you have a preliminary look at this charming waterfront. Check out the restaurants and shops for later visiting, but one of the first things you want to do after you get oriented is take that walk up the hill for the world-famous view.
Yes it's a bit of an uphill climb, but not so bad, and it's worth it because you will get some super views. Only takes about fifteen minutes at most to walk up here, or ten if you're a good walker.
That's the first glimpse, but keep going because it gets better -- you've come this far and it's only another hundred meters or less to get to the very best view, so don't stop here.
When you reach the church of St. George you have arrived at the very best viewing location. This is it. What an amazing vista.
Walking downhill, of course, is a little easier and you can enjoy the views once again. As you get down to the bottom of the hill this little lane becomes a shopping street with all sorts of kiosks and souvenirs, tempting you on both sides as people crowd in to see what they can buy.
I suggest that you now walk all the way around the marina because over on the far side there is a lovely row of outdoor restaurants and cafes, and wine bars and some little boutiques tucked away. Plus, you have splendid views of the various boats from different angles in the midst of the marina.
This is a great time to reward yourself with the drink, maybe have a spritz, or one of the local wines.
While this is obviously a touristic town you will be delightfully surprised at the high quality of the restaurants, and they’re really no more expensive than restaurants that you're going to find anywhere else in Italy.
You'll be delighted with the number of quality shops in town, ranging from the big brands to those little personal boutiques for clothing, shoes, jewelry, all of the usual, and the various tourist items, souvenirs of all kinds.
At the end of our day trip visit here. We had two different ways to get back to Santa Margarita -- we could either take that city bus, or better yet, take the boat, it's a scenic boat ride and costs a little bit more than the bus, but still under ten euro. And yes, it turned out to be great fun. You don't need reservations, but you can buy your ticket ahead of time and get to the dock early, wait on the short line and soon enough you shuffle on board and away you go.
Right away it's very scenic, enjoying the view of the boats in the harbor and the buildings all around from water level, as we make our way out of the marina and into the Gulf of Rapollo for a splendid ride.
The ride is so quick they don't even have a snack bar -- you have seating indoors down below, or better yet, on the upper deck or you get the best view in all that fresh air and the sights all around, other boats going by, the beautiful wake of your ship -- that's quite a sight to see as well.
The boat brings you right into the center of Santa Margarita, and you'll have a splendid view of that city. There's a lot of hotels along the waterfront here. We stayed at one of them. We have another movie about Santa Margherita you can look for in our collection.




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