At eight in the morning, when the mist rising from the port dissolves across Genoa’s rooftops, the Monte di Portofino is already something else: a dark green mass that closes the horizon to the east, visible from certain viewpoints in Nervi or from the Spianata di Castelletto on clear days. From here it seems very close, as if you could swim to it following the coastline. In reality it takes just an hour by train or car to reach its base, and another couple of hours of hiking to find yourself suspended between the holm oaks and the Tyrrhenian Sea, with Genoa intuited in the distance like a city in another era.
It’s not a park for those seeking the postcard version of Portofino — with its speedboats and shop windows, which anyway remains down in the valley, enclosed in its little square. The Monte is another matter entirely: 1,000 hectares of protected area, marked trails climbing through Mediterranean scrubland and remnant beech forests, sheer cliffs where the sea changes color every hundred meters. Those who hike through it from Camogli or Rapallo discover in a few hours what tourists by boat see only in glimpses: a promontory that Genoese people consider somewhat their own, even though administratively it belongs to other municipalities.
The park that Genoese people watch from afar
The Portofino Regional Natural Park protects the entire promontory that separates the Golfo Paradiso, where Camogli rises, from the Golfo di Rapallo. It’s not a vast area — just over a thousand hectares — but the density of diverse landscapes it contains is surprising: pine groves, centuries-old holm oak forests, low scrubland with strawberry trees and broom, and finally the rocky walls that drop steeply into a sea that here takes on almost Caribbean hues on scirocco days.
What makes Monte di Portofino different from other coastal parks is the almost total absence of roads inside. You reach the summit, at San Fruttuoso, and the panoramic points only on foot — or by boat, for those who skip the trekking. This has preserved an ecosystem that elsewhere on the Riviera has been eroded by construction: here wild boar still come down to the lower trails, peregrine falcons nest on the rocky walls toward Punta Chiappa, and in certain sheltered hollows survive fragments of vegetation that recall what the Ligurian coast was like before it became a long line of terraces and villas.
From a geological point of view the promontory is an anomaly: a block of conglomerate — the famous Portofino “puddinga” — that stands out different from the surrounding rock, responsible for those golden, jagged cliffs you see approaching by boat from Camogli or Santa Margherita.
The trails: from Camogli and Rapallo
Those starting from Camogli have before them the most frequently traveled and also the most suggestive route: the trail that climbs toward San Rocco and then continues along the ridge toward San Fruttuoso, with intermittent views of the Golfo Paradiso opening up beneath you at every hairpin turn. It’s a route of about two and a half hours to the abbey, on a well-marked but not easy path: hiking boots, not beach sandals, and pay particular attention especially in the summer months, when the sun beats down on the limestone without mercy.
The Rapallo side offers a less traveled but equally beautiful alternative, climbing toward Sant’Ambrogio and then joining the main trail network toward the summit of Monte di Portofino (610 meters) or the Cappelletta, one of the most photographed panoramic points in the park. From here, on clear days, the view embraces an arc that stretches from the eastern Riviera all the way to catching a glimpse, far in the distance, of Genoa itself — a reversal of perspective that’s worth the climb.
A third access point, more direct and frequented by locals from Camogli, starts from Punta Chiappa: here the trail hugs the cliff edge just above the water for a stretch before climbing inland. It’s the point where the puddinga reveals itself most spectacularly, smoothed by the sea into almost sculptural forms, and where on calm days you see the most daring swimmers launch themselves off the rocks at spots that Camogli locals know by heart.
San Fruttuoso: the abbey that can only be reached on foot (or by boat)
The destination of many of these trails is the Abbey of San Fruttuoso, nestled in a small bay with no road access: you can only reach it on foot, through the park’s trails, or by boat from Camogli, Portofino or Santa Margherita. This forced exclusion from vehicle traffic is probably the reason why the place has preserved an atmosphere that other Ligurian beaches lost decades ago.
The abbey, of medieval origins, today belongs to the FAI (Italian Environment Fund) which oversees its conservation and opening to the public. The complex, with its intimate cloister and the small necropolis of the Doria family, tells centuries of history tied to Genoese families who made it a refuge and an outpost. Arriving there after two hours of walking through woods and cliffs, and finding yourself in front of that sober architecture opening directly onto the pebble beach, is an experience that no speedboat excursion can replicate: the effort of the journey becomes part of the place’s meaning.
Houses on the beach, fishing boats pulled ashore, the sea changing color at every hour of the day: these are images that recur in the pages that Guy de Maupassant dedicated to the coastal villages of his Normandy, from the dwelling of the “Peuples” near Yport to the beach of Étretat before the arrival of tourists.
— Guy de Maupassant, from Une Vie and stories set on the Norman coast
Those who don’t feel up to walking two hours uphill and downhill can always opt for the ferry: regular boats depart from Camogli and reach San Fruttuoso in a few minutes, allowing you to enjoy the bay without the commitment of trekking — an honest compromise, even if it deprives you of the experience of walking through the park on foot.
Flora and fauna: what you encounter along the way
Walking on Mount Portofino means crossing very different environments in just a few hours. In the lower part, near the sea, Mediterranean scrubland dominates: holm oaks, arbutus, heather, gorse that in spring color the slopes an intense yellow. As you go up, in some cooler and more sheltered valleys, mixed forests survive with specimens of considerable age, evidence of a microclimate that the headland, protected from the most aggressive winds, has managed to preserve.
As for wildlife, the park is mainly known for marine and cliff-dwelling birds: yellow-legged gulls nest on the cliffs, and it’s not unusual to spot the peregrine falcon hunting along the walls towards Punta Chiappa. In the interior forests, foxes, badgers and wild boars move about, the latter increasingly present even in low-altitude areas — a reminder that despite the proximity to crowded tourist centers like Portofino and Camogli, you are in a genuinely wild environment.
The sea surrounding the headland is protected by the Portofino Marine Protected Area, established to safeguard the rocky seabeds and posidonia meadows that host rich marine fauna — which is why the area is a historic destination for diving enthusiasts, as well as hikers.
Why it feels like another world from Genoa
Those who live in Genoa often look at Mount Portofino as a horizon rather than a destination: you can catch glimpses of it on clear days from the city’s viewpoints, but you rarely visit it with the same frequency as your own neighborhoods. It’s a paradox typical of things that are close by: the short distance — less than an hour by train from Genoa Piazza Principe to Camogli or Rapallo — makes you think there’s always time to go, so you end up postponing it.
Then there’s an element of perception: the name “Portofino” evokes the showcase village, not the park. Many visitors, Italians included, don’t distinguish between the crowded tourist town full of luxury shops and the wooded headland that towers above it, where even in high season you can spot roe deer along the more interior trails. This confusion keeps away precisely those travelers looking for an experience different from the polished piazzetta.
Practical tips for planning your trip
The best time to walk on Monte di Portofino is from April to June and from September to October: mild temperatures, clear light, spring blooms or autumn colors of the Mediterranean scrub. In the height of summer, the heat on the south-facing rock walls can be intense, and it’s best to set out very early in the morning, before nine o’clock, to avoid the hottest hours and enjoy the slanting light that makes the contrast between golden rock and sea even more striking.
Francesco Spaccamonte 2727, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
To get from Genoa, the regional train to Camogli or Rapallo is the most convenient solution: it avoids the traffic on the Aurelia state road, often congested on summer weekends, and drops visitors just a few minutes’ walk from the trail entrances. Bring sturdy trekking shoes, plenty of water (fountains along the route are scarce), and a hat: the shade of the holm oaks is not always guaranteed in the more exposed sections towards the ridge.
Those who want to tackle only part of the route can limit themselves to the Camogli–San Rocco–Punta Chiappa stretch, which is shorter and equally panoramic, then return to town or continue by boat. Those who want the full experience, Camogli–San Fruttuoso on foot with return by ferry, should plan for a good half day, lunch included overlooking the abbey bay.
Genoa as a base for discovering Monte di Portofino
Those staying in Genoa have the advantage of being just a stone’s throw from one of Liguria’s most pristine coastal landscapes, without having to give up the life of a real city, with its caruggi, its markets and its port. The genovabb.it residences in the heart of the city are the ideal starting point for those who want to alternate trekking days on the promontory with evenings in the alleys of the historic center, where you can return tired from sun and sea spray for a dinner of trofie or pansotti.
If Monte di Portofino is calling you — and from certain corners of Genoa, on clear days, it really seems to — we are here, ready to welcome you to one of our homes before and after your adventure. You can book your stay and organize your trip with our Genoa guide, which brings together other itineraries and tips for those who want to discover the city and the coast surrounding it without hurrying.
