Expériences à Genoa
Destination
Genoa
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Genoa was once one of the richest cities in Europe, the capital of a maritime republic whose ships and bankers reached across the Mediterranean. It is still a real port city: steep, crowded and full of character. Its maze of medieval alleys runs between Renaissance palaces and the sea. A local guide helps you find your way through the caruggi and tells the stories behind them, from Columbus to pesto. Genoa is also the natural base for the Italian Riviera, with Portofino and the Cinque Terre along the coast.
En savoir plus sur Genoa
Genoa's old town is one of the largest medieval historic centres in Europe, a tangle of narrow lanes called caruggi that drop from the hills to the harbour. Above them, the merchant families of the Republic built Via Garibaldi and the Palazzi dei Rolli, grand palaces that were once used to host visiting royalty and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Several, including Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Tursi, are open as museums. The striped black-and-white Cathedral of San Lorenzo still displays a British naval shell that crashed through its roof in 1941 and never exploded.
The Porto Antico, the old harbour, was redesigned by Genoese architect Renzo Piano and is home to the Aquarium of Genoa, one of the largest in Europe. At the edge of the port stands the Lanterna, one of the oldest working lighthouses in the world. The city claims Christopher Columbus as its son, and a house linked to his family stands near Porta Soprana. Genoa is also the home of pesto, focaccia and farinata. Out east, the little fishing village of Boccadasse feels a world away from the port.
À quoi s'attendre lors d'une expérience à Genoa
Most visits to Genoa mix two kinds of day:
- The city itself: walks through the caruggi and the palaces of Via Garibaldi, the cathedral and the old port, and food tours tasting focaccia, pesto, farinata and Ligurian wine. Pesto-making classes are a local speciality.
- Day trips along the Riviera: Portofino, Camogli and the abbey of San Fruttuoso to the east, and the five cliffside villages of the Cinque Terre further along the coast.
Each tour page lists its exact meeting point, what is included and the languages available on each date.
La meilleure période pour visiter
April to June and September to October are the best months: warm, bright and good for walking the city and the coast, without the peak summer crowds in Portofino and the Cinque Terre. July and August are hot and busy along the Riviera. Genoa's winters are mild for northern Italy, and the city is quiet and pleasant, though some boats along the coast run less often.
Se déplacer
The old town is best explored on foot, but Genoa is steep, and its alleys are too narrow for cars. Public lifts and funiculars, such as the Castelletto lift and the Zecca-Righi funicular, carry you up to viewpoints above the city. The metro and buses cover the rest. Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport is about 6 km west of the centre. The two main train stations, Piazza Principe and Brignole, both have regular trains along the coast to Camogli, Santa Margherita and the Cinque Terre. Boats also run along the Riviera from spring to autumn.
