Portofino is small enough to walk end to end in a few minutes, and most of what you came for is outdoors and free. If you plan a Portofino guided tours, use this list to decide what you see on foot and what you see from the sea.
The painted houses stand round the head of a narrow bay, and the quays run along the water. At the top of the harbour is the Piazzetta, formally Piazza Martiri dell'Olivetta. You can walk and sit here at any hour, and nobody charges you.
Fishing boats share the harbour with yachts and the ferries. Pliny the Elder called the place Portus Delphini, Wikipedia notes. The comune counted 379 people at the end of 2021.
Climb Salita San Giorgio from the harbour and you reach a small, nearly oval church on the cliff. It was first built in 1154, the comune says. War destroyed it four times, and each time it was rebuilt.
Inside, look for the ex-votos in a room of the sacristy, paintings given by sailors. The village's sailors brought St George's relics back from the Holy Land. They lie under the high altar, in a shrine cut into the rock. Entry is free, and the church is open in daylight.
Castello Brown was built by the Genoese in the Middle Ages to guard the gulf. It takes its name from Montague Yeats Brown, the British consul in Genoa, who owned it from 1867 to 1905. He planted the two pines on the terrace for his wedding in 1870.
The Comune di Portofino bought the castle in 1961. Today it holds art shows and weddings, and its terrace looks straight down on the Piazzetta.
The ticket costs €10 for the castle and its garden, and under-12s go free. You buy it at the gate only, never online, and you cannot book. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing.
| Dates | Opening hours |
|---|---|
| 1 April to 31 May | 10:00 to 19:00 |
| 1 June to 30 August | 10:00 to 21:00 |
| September | 10:00 to 19:00 |
| October | 10:00 to 18:00 |
| 1 November to 31 March | 10:00 to 16:00 |
In 1922 Elizabeth von Arnim published The Enchanted April after a stay at the castle. Wikipedia credits the novel with making Portofino fashionable.
A path leads out to the lighthouse at the tip of the headland. Painted tiles on a wall above the harbour point you the way.
From the sea you see it best. The small-group boat from the harbour spends ten minutes off the lighthouse. The kayak paddles out past the Olivetta to swim below it.
About a kilometre before Portofino, the road passes the small bay of Paraggi. The kayak and the paddleboard both leave from the Niasca base here.
The paddleboard tour chooses Paraggi because motorboats stay out of the bay. One small-group boat from Rapallo also stops here for half an hour on its way home.
West along the coast, the bay of San Fruttuoso has no road at all. You arrive by boat, or on foot over the promontory. Its abbey is the one paid sight most boats pass.
The Abbey of San Fruttuoso belongs to the FAI, and the adult ticket costs €10. Offshore, the bronze Christ of the Abyss stands on the seabed, placed in August 1954. Several boats stop so you can swim or snorkel over it. The San Fruttuoso page has the hours, the boats and the trail.
The Parco di Portofino has protected the promontory since 1935. It keeps 80 km of trails open, and it has restored old sites along them.
Look for the Semaforo Vecchio, the batteries and the hermitage at Niasca. On the eastern side 36 mills once worked, and the park rebuilt one, the Mulino del Gassetta. The trails and their times are on the activities page.
Santa Margherita Ligure is the town you most likely pass through. It has the station, the ferry pier and a long seafront. The park notes that some of its women still keep up the old craft of lace.
Camogli lies on the other side of the promontory, facing Genoa. Its boats sail to San Fruttuoso all year. Camogli is also home to the Tonnarella, a fixed tuna net the park counts among the coast's old ways of fishing.
| The sight | What it costs | When it opens | How you reach it |
|---|---|---|---|
| The harbour and the Piazzetta | Free | At all hours | You land there |
| The church of San Giorgio | Free | In daylight | Steps up from the harbour |
| The castle and its garden | €10, free under 12 | 10:00 to 18:00 in October | The path above the harbour |
| The lighthouse | Free to see | Passed by boat and kayak | On foot, by the signed path; or from the water |
| Paraggi bay | Free to see | At all hours | The road or the seafront from Santa Margherita |
| The abbey at San Fruttuoso | €10, €5 ages 6 to 18 | 10:00 to 15:45 in October | By boat, or on foot over the promontory |
Only the castle and the abbey charge for entry. No tour fare covers the abbey, so budget for it yourself if your boat or hike stops there.
Boats past the lighthouse, a kayak from Paraggi, or a walk with a pesto class.
San Giorgio and the Piazzetta are the comune's own pages. The castle's history, ticket and hours are its official site's, checked 28 September 2026. The park, the abbey and the village facts come from the park, the FAI and Wikipedia. Every boat stop comes from that trip's own listing.
A private guide for about two hours in the Piazzetta and the lanes, met at the harbour or your hotel. Longer options add Santa Margherita, or a car from Genoa and back.
From $220 per person
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A private local guide for Portofino and Santa Margherita, about three hours in each, joined by the public ferry, with focaccia and a glass of wine. Cruise passengers are met at the tender pier.
From $405 per person, bookings of two
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Four hours from Rapallo on a shared boat of up to 12: an hour ashore in Portofino, an hour snorkelling in San Fruttuoso bay and a stop at Paraggi. Fuel and snorkel gear are in the fare.
From $98 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: plan the day on the visitor guide, see the gallery, or find your trip on Portofino Tours.