Italian Summer - Ligurian Coast and Milan

As a geographical reference, Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino, is a protected area that spans basically from Camogli to Portofino, to Santa Margherita Ligure. So these three towns are definitely the highlights of the region.

Camogli is totally off-the-beaten-path for your American tourist. It's a wonderful, authentic, very Italian beach town. Quiet during the week, busy over the weekends. I literally did not hear the English language until the last day. Some people stay right by the beach, but if you know what's up, you'll do what I did, rent a car, and stay on the hill and drive down to the beach each day. The views are enchanting. The beach in Camogli is a black stone beach. There are a couple public lots where everyone parks, and then you walk down to the pedestrian zone, which is situated around the beach and ferry dock. Parking wasn't that difficult of a situation. Pro tip: pay via the EasyPark app. You can rent beach chairs & umbrellas; they're all set up. Really it's just a gorgeous scene, boats going back and forth, everyone is with their families, relaxing, tan, the Ligurian sea sparking under the sunshine. There's a bit of shopping & restaurants throughout the town. Highlights for me were Cucu Camogli and the Camogliese. The hotel situation in Camogli is not luxury. There is one stand-out, Villa Rosmarino, which looks lovely. We were in a 2-bedroom villa with a pool, yard, and outdoor seating area. It was perfect for us; we had so much fun & the girls loved having a pool.

We spent some time in Santa Margarita, Liguria, which has a lot more going on than Camogli. There are cultural sites, great shopping, a mix of higher-end and mid-range boutiques. A ton of restaurants. There is more of an international tourist scene, which makes the town buzzier. The hotel to stay in is: Grand Hotel Miramare. Also in Rapallo, there is: Grand Hotel Bristol Resort & Spa and Excelsior Palace Portofino Coast.

Portofino is where it's at. High-luxe, designer brands. Everyone's dressed to the nines. It's buzzy, fun to be around, and absolutely gorgeous with the boats all lined up in the dock. Restaurants on the square. I spent the morning at the Belmond properties, while my husband and the girls shopped, watched the boats, and ate more gelato. Could have hiked up to the lighthouse. We had lunch at Langostera in Paraggi, which is a must. Paraggi is a teeny sandy beach, but if you've been around Italy, you know that the Italians will make use of every square inch of shoreline and sun. So it's a cute scene, a few restaurants and beach clubs squeezed in. The beach clubs do take care of the seaweed, but the public beach not so much. Regarding the hotel scene in Portofino, the King is Splendido & his Queen is Splendido Mare. Otherwise, there's an Eight Hotel Portofino & Eight Hotel Paraggi.

I worked with our on-the-ground partners to schedule some fun excursions. We did an awesome private pesto class at Portofinese, an old mill. The drive up is a nail-biter so don't try and drive there yourself. You can hike. We had also planned to do a boat day with a stop at San Fruttuoso, which you can only get to by boat, but it got cancelled & rescheduled 3x. Time and tide wait for no man.

& of course, we did Genoa in a day. Walked the main square, the old port, through the Medieval Quarter. We did all of the museums of the Strada Nuova on Via Garibaldi. The palazzos were incredible; I loved seeing what life was like. After a few hours, the rest of the family was like, "how many more palazzos?" So we grabbed lunch & headed back to the pool. I feel like people skip Genoa; it's definitely gritty. But there's a lot of history there, so in my opinion, it's worth a trip, especially for the traveler that's looking to dig in a little deeper! For hotels, there's the Melia Genova & Hotel Bristol Palace.

Our last 3 nights were spent in Milan. Every time I return to Milan, I fall in love a little bit more. We stayed at Galleria Vik, which is in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. We just loved it. The hotel is basically a love letter to modern art, but also, what an experience to stay in the Galleria! The energy of everyone walking through, dining, and shopping, vibrates throughout the building. It was fun! & I love being in the center of things when I'm in a City, so we could just walk out of the front door and everything was at our fingertips. Of course, we did the Duomo & Last Supper. We're also huge Formula 1 fans & our dates overlapped w/ Monza, whee! So we got tickets & headed over for Qualifying Day before our flight home the following day. Pro tip: From Milan, you can easily train or take a cab to the circuit. & for the race, make sure to buy your train tickets in advance!

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on travel to Italy. In need of further inspiration? Check out Laura Celi’s guide, Italy for Families.