From Serravalle to the Ligurian Riviera: the three gems of Tigullio

The Gulf of Tigullio is part of these wonderful regionand in the past it bewitched Wagner, Andersen, Byron, D’Annunzio, Hemingway,and Nietzsche, and served asa film set for De Sica and Gassman in the 1950s and 1960s. With its shores washedby the blue Mediterranean Sea and the mountains at its back, it is home to some of Italy’s most elite destinations. Like chic Portofino and placid Camogli, two true gems. All around, the Regional Natural Park of Portofino, a slice of Liguria that in addition to sun and sea offers a green and slow side to walk and breathe deeply. One of the most gratifying treks to be made, even if at times of great difficulty, is the one that goes from Camogli-San Rocco to San Fruttuoso (which can only be reached on foot or by boat) and continues to Portofino.In the first section, the path is rocky and difficult, with support cables to hold on to. In about three and a half hours of walking (by boat it takes about half an hour) you reach the tiny village of San Fruttuoso, a small pebbly bay dominated only by the beautiful 10th-century Benedictine abbey. From San Fruttuoso, those who want to continuecan takeanother hour and a half’s walk to indulge themselves at a table in Portofino’s little square and feel a bit like Jacqueline Kennedy and Onassis but wearing hiking boots. Those who do not like to toil will be happy to know that Camogli and Portofino can be reached comfortably while sitting in their own means of locomotion.

Portofino
A small, perfect, and dreamlikevillage. An exclusive destination for the international jetset (with yachts and paparazzi in tow). Behindthe famousPiazzetta–with its multi-coloured houses, restaurants, and small boutiques making it a sort of VIP meeting place –adifferentside of Portofinois revealed. It is characterised bythe classic carrugi and the ancient Roman urban fabric, the church of San Martino, of Romanesque origin but remodelled in the 19th century, and the 14th-century Oratory of Santa Maria Assunta. Then, climbing uponthe promontory, one findsother must-see locations:a park of contemporary sculptures (the Park Museum –International Centre for Outdoor Sculpture), the church of S. Giorgio, with a churchyard that is a suggestiveterrace overlooking the village, and the evocative Brown Castle, venue for exhibitions and events. One could argue that the hotels are very expensive. However, Portofino is a destination to be experienced in a day, and for just the price of the parking ticket (the village is inaccessible to cars, which must be left outside) it is possible to witness a marvellous spectacle that both nature and man have shapedover the centuries. And, if that is not enough, you can discover the seabed in this part of Liguria through the centres that organise dives at Punta Chiappa, where Roman remains were found, and at Punta della Torretta, where colonies of red coral and Alcyonaceacan be explored.