catj

Hi,

We will come from Venice to one of the Cinque Terre villages (or a nearby town) for 4 nights.

We wish to see Portofino on our trip to this area.

Portovenere also looks lovely, but cannot be in the same day trip to Portofino.

Which other places would you recommend to visit in a day trip to Portofino?

Pisa and Lucca are less interesting us.

We enjoy picturesque areas (as the 5 villages and Portofino), and nature.

Thanks a lot!

catj

Hi,

I forgot to mention it would be on May 2016.

Thank you.

sandralist

Sarzana and Chiavari

neckervd

"Which other places would you recommend to visit in a day trip to Portofino?"
San Fruttuoso and Camogli

catj

Hi,

Thank you very much!

Camogli looks very nice, I'll check it, thank you.

I saw that you have to take 2 buses from Camogli to Portofino, or a train + a bus.

Is there a better connection?

San Fruttuoso looks like a very small town with just the beach to see, isn't it the case?

Chiavari looks nice, though, are there other towns which are picturesque as Portofino and the 5 villages?

Thank you very very much.

PalenQ

Portofino was absolutely elbow to elbow when I was there one October weekend day - try to pick a week day but in August or July it will always be super super crowded and IMO then not that neat - Santa Margherita Ligure is a nice city to stop in when going to Portofino - direct trains from up and down the coast - buses and boats run from here to Portofino or you can do a lovely walk there thru forests as I did =- took about an hour or so at a fast pace - walking along the main road is a drag.

Another different day trip possibility is to visit the Carrara Marble quarries a short enough train trip away and see where Michelangelo and many sculptors have gotten their marble from for eons:

https://www.google.com/search?q=carr...w=1920&bih=955

sandralist

All the towns along the Riviera with the exception of Recco are picturesque. Just look at a map. If you go to Chiavari, the picturesque part is not at the seaside, but near the bottom of the hills. If you go to Chiavari it is best to go either in the morning, or in the later afternoon, when the shops re-open.

If you are going in summer, from Santa Margherita Ligure you can take a boat to Portofino. You can take another boat from Portofino to San Fruttuoso, which is not a town, but a sea cove beach with an abbey and some places to eat. That's it. It is super tiny. From San Fruttuoso you can take another boat from Camogli.

Otherwise, you need to taket trains or buses or taxis to visit Portofino and Camogli in the same day. You cannot visit San Fruttuoso unless you take a boat or hike, and the hike is 2 hours each way and difficult.

HappyTrvlr

Portofino is very small and won't take much time. It will be filled with tourists. We went back there a second time and wondered why we did that.
Visit Santa Margherita and Camogli nearby. Portovenere can be accessed by boat from Monterosso( I think.) We spent part of a day there, pretty town. Four nights in the Cinque Terre gives you three days. We split the hike through the five villages into two days and went to Portovenere the other day. You really don't have a lot of time for day trips.