Is Genoa Worth visiting
 

Hello,

I am spending four nights in Rapallo later this year and was wondering if Genoa is worth seeing or am I better off spending my time seeing Cinque Terre, Portofino, ect...

Thank you,

--Paul

That would depend on whether you like large cities or places like the other two.

I've been to Genoa several times and find it fascinating - especially the narrow warren of lanes just up from the port. Also one of the world's finest Aquariums. the city was cleaned up for a World's Exhibition so the former Naples-esque grime is gone.

Personally if i had just one day i'd do the Cinque Terre and hike the seven-mile goat trail between villages.

CT or Portofino for me. I think Genoa, and I've only driven thru it, is an industrial city.

"Travellers who think of Genoa as simply a dirty port town and bypass the city for the coastal resorts do the city and themselves a great disservice."

ringed by industry perhaps but a gem of an old-world historical city centre IMO

Genoa is a beautiful city! We have been there more or less by accident. We drove past (on our way to the C.T.), and thought we might spend an hour or so ... We spent the whole day in Genoa. This was in 2004 when Genoa was Cultural Capital of Europe.

With four nights in Rapallo you can easily wing Genoa in, IMO. The Cinque Terre doesn't cover a lot of 'land' and can be seen in one or max. 2 days. Unless you want to do all the hikes between the five villages. Tip: take the boat from one village to the next rather than the train. The views from the water are magnificent.
Rapallo, Portofino, Lerici, Santa Margherita Ligure, ... can be seen in one day. All are very pretty.

Don't miss Genova- it's beautiful. we loved just wandering the narrow streets of the old port and the fabulous palazzos, sone of which are great museums/galleries.

I'm a history guy, so being in the birth place of chris columbus is very cool. So I had a great afternoon and a horrible evening sleeping in the train station in the midst of a domestic dispute with hardcore abuse that I stepped into and spent a hour or so talking to the police- and their english was marginal at best. It was worth it, no excuse for hiting a women.

I loved Genoa and have visited twice, once from Rapallo and once by ship. I would definitely spend time there again.

I much preferred it over the CT, which is like a Rick Steeves convention. I left after an hour in Monterosso :(

Portofino is visually stunning but I preferred the gritter Genoa. The acquarium was a gem and it was nice not being in a tourist swarm.

If you will be in Rapallo on a Thursday morning make sure you go the weekly market on the waterfront promenade!

If you have access to Saveur magazine, published in the US, you might take a look at their wonderful article on that city, which ran sometime during the last year or so...check their website to see if you can order a back issue. The story focused on food but had lots of information on the palazzos and other sights as well.

Thank you very much for all of your insight! We will definitely be visiting Genoa this August.

Genoa has a stunning cathedral with a black and white facade that I've not seen anywhere else...

YES

This was one of the few places we've been in Italy that we didn't like at all. But as you can see, others disagree.

Inevitably the answer to a question about whether (Insert City) is worth seeing will be:
1* Yes
2* No
3* Maybe
4* It all depends...

Also wondering about spending time in Genoa..2-3 nights..in September..

Staglione cemetery
medieval core of city
train to Casella

???

Anyone visited Genoa recently? Impressions?

I visited Genoa last July. It was interesting since I am into history but I was not overly impressed by the city as a whole. I would probably go there for a day but that would be it.

David J

Is it easy to get to Portofino from Genoa and do both in one day?

do go and see the cemetery if you do genova its worth a couple of hours

I visited Genoa last April and stayed with an Italian friend in the center of the city. The city has a lot of history, the old labyrinth of streets leading to the port is fascinating. There is a museum, either Palasso Rossi or Blanco, I can't remember now, that has a tower with a 360 view of the city and the harbor. Beautiful! The city of Genoa seemed very real to me, not just a tourist destination like gorgeous Florence. Perhaps, because I was staying and hanging out with italians who live there... I would highly recommend it, but I would also recommend Cinque Terre for different reasons.

OK, just noticed that the original post is from 2007.

In one word, yes! Such an amazing city to walk through and discover on foot, there is so much to see in terms of history, architecture, Unesco sites and beautiful scenery.

I love Genoa, is such an amazing city to see the beautiful landmarks, scenic vistas and yes the wonderful food from the region. I would love to share a recent post of my favorite spots that I visited in the city. http://travelphotodiscovery.com/visiting-genoa/

We flew in and out of Genoa last October on our ways to and from Rapallo and Vernazza.We were actually surprised that Genoa was so pretty and charming. The rainy weather was a problem but we took the hop o-hop off and had a good time. By the way, Rapallo lived up to our expectations, and Vernazza was as delightful as we remembered.

Byrd

And currently the Galata Museo del Mare has an exhibition by the title Mare Monstrum, which to me seems absolutely fascinating. I'll be making an effort to come and see it on my last day in the riviera on my way back to Milan. Look at the pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/noazgj3
The museum is supposed to be wonderful regardless of this event.(at least that's what Rough Guides says)