Portofino and la dolce vita
The name Portofino unfailingly evokes images of the dolce vita of the 1950s - when the phrase ‘jet set’ had some meaning, and the likes of Burton and Taylor, Bogart and Bacall, and Prince Rainier and Princess Grace would park up their yachts and head into this Italian Riviera town. Portofino had been first ‘discovered’ in the late 1800s, when British aristocrats started holidaying here. Portofino was a hidden gem, tucked at the end of a tortuously winding 5km road from Santa Margherita Ligure, and the toffs would arrive on horse and cart.
The influx of the beau monde had a predictable effect, and prices haven’t recovered since - the bars and restaurants of Portofino are eye-wateringly expensive at times, but you can see why the place had and has such a pull. It’s quite beautiful, with terracotta-coloured terraced buildings clustering around the little harbour, and the green slopes rising behind the town.
Main sights of the town include the Churches of San Martino (12th century) and San Giorgio (supposedly with relics of St George) and the Gothic Oratory of Santa Maria Assunta. There is the 16th century Castello Brown and, set 17 metres down in the bay, the Statue of Christ of the Abyss. Placed there in 1954 to protect the fishing fleet, He is an extraordinary sight, with open arms, looking up to the sky.
But head out of Portofino to get a real sense of the lovely setting. The coastal path south leads to the Faro (lighthouse) and then the tip of the promontory. Head north from Portofino and you pass through steep paths through vineyards and orchards to Olmi and then San Fruttuoso. This Portofino headland is quite lovely and surprisingly unwalked, though it is protected as the Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino, with wild thyme, holm oak and pine trees. There are well marked paths and the view from the top, Monte di Portofino, is spectacular.
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