At eight in the evening, when the sun begins to set behind the mountains and golden light envelops the gulf, the Spianata di Castelletto becomes the natural stage for one of Italy’s most beautiful panoramas. Genoese locals know it well: they climb up here with an aperitivo in hand, sit on marble benches and watch their city stretch out to the horizon. Yet this corner of urban paradise remains a secret jealously guarded by locals, far from the most beaten tourist routes.
The Castelletto neighborhood is the Genoa that rises up, the one that climbs the hills and looks down from above. It is the city’s finest drawing room, made up of Liberty-style villas, meticulously tended gardens and terraces overlooking the sea. It is also the Genoa of vertical transport, where century-old cable cars and Art Nouveau elevators carry weary legs to panoramas that take your breath away.
Here everything speaks of discreet elegance and that kind of beauty that doesn’t need to shout to be noticed. All you need to do is lift your eyes from the caruggi of the historic center and follow the signs for “Spianata” to discover a parallel world, where time seems to flow more slowly and every corner offers a view worthy of a postcard.
The Castelletto Elevator: a journey through time
The first encounter with Castelletto often begins with the Castelletto Elevator, in Largo Zecca. This marvel of 1909 engineering is not just a means of transport, but an experience in itself. Designed by engineer Gavotti, the Art Nouveau elevator rises 74 meters at a gradient of 59%, taking just ninety seconds to travel from the heart of the city to the upper neighborhood.
The journey begins in a station that seems straight out of a Jules Verne novel: wrought iron, stained glass windows and that Belle Époque atmosphere that makes you feel like a traveler from another era. The two dark wood cabins, restored while maintaining their original charm, glide along the tracks with a smooth and hypnotic movement. Through the side windows you can first glimpse the roofs of the houses below, then the bell towers, and finally the blue of the sea that gradually widens.
Upon arrival, the upper station welcomes you with its panoramic terrace. From here the view is already extraordinary: the entire old town stretches below you, with its slate roofs gleaming in the sun and bell towers soaring between the buildings. But this is only the appetizer of what awaits you just a few steps higher.
“Genoa mirrors itself in its gulf like a queen contemplating her jewels”
— Paul Valéry, French poet
The Spianata: the Genoese viewpoint
From the elevator station, it takes just five minutes on foot to reach the true pearl of Castelletto: the Spianata Castelletto. This spacious viewpoint paved with Finale stone is the city’s premier panoramic spot, the place where Genoese locals come to “have aperitivo with a view” and where lovers arrange to meet at sunset.
The Spianata spreads across multiple terraced levels, each with its own particular perspective. From the highest level, where the white marble benches are located, your gaze embraces the entire arc of the gulf: from the tip of Portofino on the left to the mountains that close off the Polcevera valley on the right. In between, Genoa stretches out like a great natural amphitheater, with the ancient port plunging into the sea and neighborhoods climbing up the hillsides.
The best time to be here is at sunset, when the slanting light ignites the colors of the buildings and the sea becomes a golden mirror. But even during the day the view is extraordinary: on clear days you can clearly make out the profiles of the Cinque Terre on the eastern coast and the Ligurian Apennines toward the interior.
It’s not uncommon to encounter professional photographers on the Spianata in search of the perfect shot, painters with easels seeking the right light, or simply Genoese people who come here to escape the frenzy of the lower city. Some bring the newspaper and sit on the panoramic bench, some do their morning jogging around the perimeter of the terrace, some organize impromptu picnics on the surrounding lawns.
Villetta Di Negro and the romantic gardens
Just a few steps from the Spianata, hidden among the residential buildings of Via Villetta Di Negro, lies one of Genoa’s most fascinating historic parks: the Villetta Di Negro. This nineteenth-century romantic garden is a world unto itself, where artificial waterfalls, decorative grottos, and winding paths create an atmosphere of urban fairy tale.
The park was born from the botanical passion of Marquis Gian Carlo Di Negro, who in the nineteenth century wanted to create his private English garden here. Today it is a public park that retains all of its original charm: stone bridges crossing artificial streams, paths winding between giant bamboo and exotic palms, hidden corners where you can stop to read or simply contemplate nature.
The heart of the park is the artificial waterfall, about ten meters high, which plunges into a small natural pool surrounded by ferns and moss. The sound of flowing water creates an oasis of peace just a few meters from city traffic. Around the waterfall wind paths that lead to hidden viewpoints, each with its own particular perspective on the city.
The artificial grottos are particularly charming, carved into the rock and decorated with fake stalactites and water features. One of these, the Grotto of Neptune, still hosts a statue of the god of the sea today and represents one of the best-preserved examples of Ligurian Romantic architecture.
“A Zena o l’è ‘na bela figgia, ma a sta in sciô còllo”
— Genoese proverb: “Genoa is a beautiful girl, but she lives on the hill”
The elegant neighborhood: villas and palaces among the gardens
Castelletto is not just panoramas, but also one of Genoa’s most elegant residential neighborhoods. Strolling along Via Villetta Di Negro, Via San Bartolomeo degli Armeni or Corso Magenta means immersing yourself in architecture that tells the story of the Genoese bourgeoisie between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Art Nouveau villas that dot the neighborhood are small architectural gems, with their decorated facades, bay windows overlooking the sea, carefully tended gardens glimpsed beyond wrought iron gates. Many of these residences were built between 1890 and 1920 by families of shipowners and merchants who wanted to escape the confusion of the port while maintaining a view of their business world.
Via del Casone, in particular, is an open-air gallery of period residential architecture. Here each building tells a different story: there is the neo-Gothic villa with medieval turrets, the neoclassical small palace with Doric columns, the modernist house of the 1930s with clean lines and large windows.
The private gardens hidden behind these villas are often visible from public streets and offer glimpses of carefully tended greenery: centuries-old magnolias, flowering camellias, rose gardens perfuming the May air. It’s not uncommon to come across partially open gates that allow you to catch a glimpse of interior courtyards with fountains, marble staircases and wisteria pergolas.
Historic funiculars: Sant’Anna and Righi
Castelletto is also the realm of historic vertical transport. In addition to the famous elevator, the neighborhood is served by two century-old funiculars that are themselves tourist attractions: the Sant’Anna funicular and the Righi funicular.
The Sant’Anna funicular, opened in 1891, departs from Piazza del Portello and rises to the residential neighborhood of Sant’Anna in a seven-minute scenic journey. Its red cabins glide between the gardens of villas and offer unique glimpses of the city. The arrival station, with its beautifully preserved Art Nouveau architecture, is a small open-air museum of 19th-century engineering.
Even more spectacular is the Righi funicular, which since 1895 has connected Largo Zecca to the Righi hills in a ten-minute journey through tunnels carved into the rock and viaducts suspended over the city. The route is a continuous succession of breathtaking panoramas: midway through, you pass through a tunnel that opens onto a viaduct from which you can see the entire historic center.
The Righi station, located at 300 meters above sea level, is the starting point for walks in the urban forests surrounding the city. From here, trails lead to 19th-century forts, Napoleonic batteries, and hidden viewpoints among chestnuts and maritime pines.
Why tourists never get there
The beauty of Castelletto is also its curse for tourism: it’s located high up and requires minimal effort to reach, yet it doesn’t appear on the classic lists of Genoese “must-sees.” Most visitors stick to the historic center, the old port, and perhaps Via del Campo, never imagining that just a few minutes by elevator awaits one of the most beautiful panoramas in the Mediterranean.
Tourist signage, moreover, is scarce. The Castelletto elevator is marked with small blue arrows that easily get lost in the visual chaos of the center. The funiculars are only indicated near the stations, and many tourists pass the stops without noticing their existence.
There’s also a psychological factor: Castelletto seems “residential,” a neighborhood for people who live there, not for visitors. Tourist guides dedicate only a few lines to the Esplanade, focusing on monuments in the center. Result: this corner of urban paradise remains the exclusive preserve of those who know Genoa from within, those who have the time and curiosity to lift their eyes from the alleyways and look upward.
How and when to discover Castelletto
The best time to visit Castelletto is late afternoon, when the light becomes golden and the Esplanade prepares for its evening show. Arriving here an hour before sunset means witnessing the city’s transformation: from daytime colors to the warm hues of evening, until the first lights turn on in the alleys of the historic center.
From Piazza De Ferrari, the Castelletto elevator can be reached on foot in ten minutes: simply take Via Cassa di Risparmio and follow signs for Largo Zecca. A ticket costs €1.50 and is valid all day on the elevator and funiculars. Alternatively, for those who enjoy walking, Via Corsica departs from Brignole station and gently climbs toward Castelletto in a twenty-minute scenic walk.
Spring is the best season to visit the Villetta Di Negro gardens, when camellias are in bloom and the air is fragrant with wisteria. Summer offers extraordinary sunsets from the Esplanade, while autumn paints the Righi forests in warm colors that frame the city below.
For those wanting to extend their visit, there are several bars with terraces near the Esplanade where you can enjoy an aperitivo with a view. Caffè degli Specchi, hidden on Via del Casone, offers a reserved panoramic terrace where you can sip a glass of Vermentino while watching ships enter the port.
Castelletto is the Genoa that reveals itself only to those patient enough to climb, to search, to lose themselves among gardens and panoramic terraces. It’s the city seen from its best vantage point, the one that makes you fall in love without needing explanations. From Genoa’s finest living room, the Superb City shows its most fascinating face: that of a city that knows how to surprise even those who think they already know it.
If Genoa is calling you from the heights of its hills, our residences in the heart of the city are the perfect starting point for exploring all its vertical secrets. Because the beauty of Castelletto begins in the alleyways of the center, where every morning you wake up with the sea already before your eyes.
