our cruise ship will dock in portofino for a few hours in the morning and disembark at 1pm, any suggestion on how to spend the morning sightseeing in portifino? also, any suggestions on restaurants? your reply would be greatly apprecaited.

Portofino literally means "End of the port" Which is an accurate description. It's very small, including a piazza and a small pedestrian street that leads to the parking lot. Nothing more.
If you want to see anything else, jump on the bus and go 5 minutes down to Santa Margarita.
Otherwise camp out at one of the outdoor restaurants and have a beautiful mean.
This Genovese are famous for their pesto and so this will always be reccommended. The fish isn't as fresh as you'd think, because I've heard they buy it in Milan. Which of course is strange, but true.
Have fun.
Melissa

We were in SM two years ago and took a boat over to Portofino We had done everything there was to do in an hour - it's beautiful but tiny. I'd go over to SM - either by taxi, bus or ferry and walk around- eat- enjoy the scenery. There's a lot more there.

When we were in Portofino several years ago we took a hike up to a small castle that had a beautiful view of the entire area, but I can't recall the name of it. Anyone?

I don't think you can go wrong at any restaurant there. We went to a place by the port and just pointed to what we wanted (the fish was still moving, it was so fresh) and it was delicious.

The castle fortress above Portofino is called Castello Brown. The views of the coast line and the port of Portofino are fantastic. It is well worth the climb.

Larry J

Portofino will take about 45 minutes to see. Take the ferry or bus to Santa MArgherita. There are a couple of great restaurants there. David's which is down town. Up on the hill is a restaurant which overlooks the town and the sea. The two bottles of wine and two bottles of Lemoncello seem to have obliterated the names. Two of the best meals I have ever eaten.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I second the recommendation to take the short hike up to the castle. I have BEAUTIFUL pictures of the port with the lovely pastel colored buildings and expensive yachts in the harbor. We enjoyed the scenery eating our gelato in the shade. I imagine if you are only going to be there for a short while that you might find it cheaper to eat lunch on your cruise ship, perhaps, unless you want to pay for an expensive Italian beach-side lunch.