We spent a week on the stunning, sparkling, Ligurian coast in June, based in Rapallo. We drove from Milano to Rapallo and we got our first taste of the ‘Crazy Ligurians’ we had heard about (feisty, hate tourists-yet-rely-on-them!) as they sped past us at 150 km/hr+ on the 2hour drive down to the coast. Our next taste of life in this hilly seaside town came soon after when we tried to negotiate our Renault eSpace 7-seater car around the tiny 2-way (but fits only 1 small car) streets and hairpin bends up to the apartment we had rented for the week. And the real authentic Ligurian experience started as soon as we opened our apartment door and found a 1970’s seaside apartment in orange and brown swirls that looked like it hadn’t been lived in for 30 years. We had to laugh as we’d bought 2 sets of double sheets as the booking agency said we had to supply our own linen, and they listed 2 double beds (we had our daughter with us) and instead we found 7 single beds! Still, it was big, had a lovely balcony, a big kitchen and a glimpse of water views plus a shared pool. We soon discovered that you could only use 1 appliance at a time otherwise the power would short circuit – so we choreographed using the kettle but not while showering, putting the oven on but not with fan on etc. And we discovered the perfect way to work off all the pesto pasta and focaccia was up and down the hundreds of steps from our apartment into town and to the beachfront
We loved spending our days strolling along the promenade, ducking into the little side streets and grabbing a bargain at a boutique, a focaccia for lunch or a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the little wine shops. The waterfront has the remnants of the Castello Sul Mare built in the 15th century and Rapallo has a very authentic ‘local feel’, they rely on tourists (but don’t encourage them), and love to celebrate their town. When we were there, end of June they were setting up for the noisy, fiery three-day festival to celebrate their patron saint. This festival celebrates the apparition of Our Lady of Montallegro (which took place on 2 July 1557) with endless fireworks and parades and one of the rituals the week before is to hike the 3.8 km trail (with an elevation gain of 610m) up to the Sanctuary of Montallegro in honour of the patron saint. It was far too hot to hike for us but we did enjoy taking the rather ancient cable car (built 1934) up the mountain then walking up to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montallegro, a basilica finished in 1559. The panoramic views from the terrace of the Golfo del Tigullio are spectacular. And if you walk a little further up and around, you’ll find the famous Casa del Pelligrino, a post WWII retreat which is now an Albergo and restaurant. The restaurant was closed when we visited late in the day, but we could see the attraction of dining beneath wisteria entwined canopy overlooking the deep valley and Ligurian sea below. Apparently Yeats, Shelly and Byron apparently holidayed here and I think I could be inspired to put pen to paper on this terrace!
Rapallo food and drinks:
Our favourite local restaurant was Casa Italia tucked in behind the famous Simonetti gelateria at the north end of town – they serve the delicious local Liguarian dish – Trofie with pesto and some delicious suppli, all very reasonably priced and very local and quiet. We enjoyed good coffee at Bar Celestin with a fresh slice of focaccia and the best fresh gluten-free chick pea bread from Spiga D’Oro on the main street. Our favourite food in Rapallo was actually the platters of apperitivos – which are designed to ‘open your palette’ for your meal to follow but they give you so much meat, cheese, bread, olives and chips that they really are a meal themselves.
Our favourite little apperitivo bar in town was Bloody Mary and just out of town for Wow factor was Dan Maguetti’s which was just outside of Rapallo up on a clifftop behind the Church of San Rocco. Literally perched on a cliffside this gem serves outstanding aperitivos and spritz with a view to die for. If you’re brave (and sober enough) climb the stairs up to the loo for an even more amazing view!
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre means the five lands and indeed there are five little lands strewn along the rugged coastline of the Italian Riviera. They are; Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We only got to see the first three as the walking paths to the last two were closed/under restoration works when we visited on the 1st of July 2024. We bought a day pass to do the two ticketed walks, Monterosso to Vernazza and Vernazza to Corniglia. You must have a ticket for these walks in summer and show it at the inspection booth at the start of each walk where you also have to show you are not wearing thongs and have appropriate hiking footwear (preferably enclosed) for navigating the rough, stony, slippery paths.
Monterosso to Vernazza walk
We took the train to Monterosso (the largest of the 5 towns) from Rapallo and turned right out of the train station to visit the little sandy beach (Note: this is the only one of the five towns with a sandy beach) and to see the remains of the colossal statue of Neptune sticking out from the cliff. We then walked back the other direction and through the tunnel into the little town to explore the daily market and grab a coffee before we began our 3.5 km hike from Monterosso to Vernazza. We laughed when the signs said allow 2 hours to walk 3.5 kms – but they were right as it was v rocky, steep, crowded and on the cliff’s edge so you had to walk super slow. I could see why it was necessary to ticket the walks as like all popular walks around the word now (Camino de Santiago, Machu Pichu, Everest) they are becoming dangerously saturated with tourists. I advise you to avoid the Cinque Terre walks in Summer June – September if you can or if not, to start super early! Despite the crowds, the views from the cliff path were sensational and when we got into Monterosso we realised the crowds on the track were nothing. The little nick of a town was haemorrhaging tourists from sea, track and train station. We grabbed some water and sandwiches and hit the pebbly beach to eat and swim and ready ourselves for the next 3km hike to Corniglia.
Vernazza to Corniglia walk
The second walk was a hot, steep, incline to begin but far less walkers – at least going in our direction as all the tour guides say to do the walk the opposite way. We were happy to have some space and were delighted to find halfway along the trail a fresh fruit and juice stand and enjoyed a pomegranate juice as we watched the locals working the vineyards and orchards below us. We got into Corniglia around 3.30pm and wandered the little hilltop town looking for gelati and the viewpoints – the best of which is at the very end of the little street that leads to the church. There is no access to the water here as it is 100m above sea level with only sheer cliffs plummeting down to the water. Be warned, if you are catching the train on or back from here, as we were, you need to allow 30 minutes to hike down to the sea level train station. We saw more than a few lads flying down the steps to try to reach their train before it departed – which is a perilous endeavour!
Portofino and San Fruttuoso
We took the little ferry from Rapallo around to San Fruttuoso and then stopped off at Portfoino on the way back. This is a popular trip, and we thought we’d beat the crowds by catching the first boat at 10am. People were queuing up at 9.30 to buy their tickets so we guessed we weren’t the only ones with this idea and the first ferry out was pretty crowded.
San Fruttuoso: We were the first boat into the little pebbly beach of San Fruttuoso where there is the famous Christ of the Abyss bronze statue on the seafloor of San Fruttuoso bay (Camogli). The statue lies 300 m off the beach at a depth of 17 metres – people like to dive down to touch his outstretched arms for a blessing. We were happy just to swim in the lovely clear waters and enjoy a bit of space on the beach as there not too many people in the water when we arrived at 10.40 am. That didn’t last long as we watched boat after boat pile in and unload tourists until the place was heaving. We were going to walk around the cliffs to the next beach, but we decided to catch the ferry back to Portfoino instead for lunch.
Portofino is a beautiful, boutique town nestled into a nick of a harbour west of Rapallo with a backdrop of vine and olive groves.
There is a piazza/promenade that follows the water and rows of pretty pastel houses and buildings and boutiques clothing stores, bars and restaurants – there’s even a floating restaurant that looked a little wobbly for our liking!). This is the destination for expensive ‘feature lunches’ and picking up a chic outfit and sitting front row at sunset on the harbour sipping cocktails. All the exclusive big luxury boats pull in here and you’d half expect them to be filming an episode of Below decks. There’s a nice walk up to the Fort of St. George from the marina and a little further up to the church and a beautiful belvedere with views one way over Portofino and out the back, down the Ligurian coast. There’s also a curious sculpture garden where we saw the same hanging rhino sculpture we saw in Bresica in April!
