ILLUSION OR REALITY?

Meet your private guide and driver in Portofino and enjoy a full-day tour of two delightful seaside towns and a secluded, but much sought-after, bay.

The first stop on your excursion will bring you to Santa Margherita Ligure. This lively town warmly invites you to stroll along its waterfront promenade lined with restaurants, cafes, ice cream parlours and elegant Liberty-style facades. Ruins of a castle built in the mid-16th century as a defence against Moorish incursions still stand as a reminder of the olden days of marauding pirates. A visit to the oratory dedicated to Erasmo, the patron saint of seamen, merchants and maritime activities, will allow you to dip a toe into this fishing village’s seafaring history. Suspended from the walls of the chapel are ship models left here by yesteryear’s sailors as ex votos for surviving a storm or an enemy attack. Don’t forget to take a peek inside the elaborately decorated Baroque Church of Santa Margherita and admire the gorgeous seascape views from the gardens of Villa Durazzo before setting off for your next destination.

Once a thriving harbour, boasting a fleet of almost seven hundred ships at the peak of its glory, today Camogli is a charming fishing village and popular summer resort. The town’s history is inextricably linked to the sea. According to a local belief, its etymology derives from the shortened words Casa delle mogli, meaning house of the wives, which is thought to be a reference to the women who guarded the town while their husbands – fishermen, sailors or captains – were away at sea. Ambling along Camogli’s picture-perfect seafront walkway and up through its narrow alleys, you will certainly notice the exquisite tones of the building’s facades, painted in shades of red, pink, apricot and amber. These pastel-hued houses once helped sea workers find their way back to the port and today provide a delightful pastime for visitors who enjoy spotting the illusions that decorate their exteriors. Lifelike inhabitants peer out of the windows, a graceful cat perches perilously on the window sill… and are those real shutters casting shadows on the wall?

After lunch and a leisurely stroll through town reach the port, hop aboard a public ferry boat and lap up the matchless scenery of the fabled Riviera as you sail along the crystal clear waters of the Ligurian Sea. A 30 minute trip will bring you to the small bay of San Fruttuoso. This inlet, tucked away between the sea and woodland slopes, can only be accessed by boat or by descending a steep trail from the mountain above. As far back as the 700s this isolated corner was chosen as the ideal location for a church. According to legend Saint Fructuosus himself, martyred in the 3rd century, indicated this spot as his final resting place. He is said to have appeared in a dream to 8th century Archbishop of Tarragon Prospero who had fled from Spain and the Moors in search of a site on which to preserve the ashes of the saint. The church was rebuilt by the Benedictine monks in the 11th century and from the 13th century to 1983 the noble Genoese Doria dynasty patronized the abbey, renovating its design and transferring the family’s burial ground here. Also located in this cove are a handful of restaurants, a 16th century watchtower and an underwater bronze statue. This latter is indeed San Fruttuoso’s best known landmark: an otherworldly 1954 Christ of the Abyss, protector of all those who venture out to sea, rests here under 17 metres of water, his eyes raised to the heavens and arms outspread in a welcoming embrace.

After a refreshing swim in the bay’s limpid waters it’s time to catch the ferry back to Portofino.