Hello friends. As my journey continued, I eventually reached one of the outer neighborhoods of Genoa. I think this place is very interesting too because it's important to see how the locals live beyond what tourists see in the city center. On the walls, you can see references to the local football team, Genoa. This team might be the oldest club in Italy. The buildings are much simpler compared to those in the center, but some of them are really beautiful and well preserved. It's hard to deal with the humidity coming from the sea, but some buildings still look amazing.
I decided to stay here and the reason is quite simple. I came to Genoa by car. And as you might guess, finding parking here is incredibly difficult. My car was parked across the street. Even here it was hard to find a spot. Just imagine what it must be like in the city center. First of all, there are no free parking spots. Here, parking was free. And even the paid ones are hard to find. If you're visiting for 2 or 3 days like me, you’ll probably need to spend a considerable extra amount just for parking.
Driving in Genoa isn’t exactly suicide, but it’s very close because it’s really exhausting. Luckily, there’s public transportation. The house I stayed in is the gray building in the middle. There's a bus stop just 50 meters away. I want to say a few things about public transport. First the good news is that it exists and works quite efficiently. There are funiculars, buses and a metro, all available. I came from the Spala area by bus. The bad news is that public transport here is very expensive. A daily unlimited ticket costs 10 euros. For comparison, even in Milan, which is Italy’s most expensive city, the same ticket is 7.60 euros.
But most people who come to Genoa want to see not only the city center but also the beautiful coastal towns around it. You can reach places like Camogli, Sestri Levante and Santa Margherita Ligure by bus or by small boats that are part of the public transport system. So for just 10 euros, it's possible to reach all of these places.
Since I was going to stay just within the city, I bought a single-use ticket for 2 euros. Two tickets were enough for me, so I spent 4 euros. If you want to explore the surroundings of Genoa, you don’t necessarily need to rent a car. Public transportation is much more economical. Will everything arrive on time? Well, this is Italy, so the answer is tricky 😊
I spent almost the entire day in the city center and didn’t need public transportation at all. The distances may seem long, but the details everywhere distract you. Especially the hills. In Genoa, some neighborhoods are built one on top of another. The houses are almost stacked on each other. In those areas, you either need good fitness or a solid budget because there are elevators or funiculars in many places.
Thanks to the differences in elevation, there are many viewpoints in the city. I visited one of them. The weather wasn’t very clear, but you could still appreciate the scale of the view. The whole city and port were beneath my feet. Of course, Genoa is not a uniform city. There are also 20th-century buildings that are not very aesthetic. But from this point, the city looks amazing.
To the left is a wide area. Even in the summer, you can find space here. The greenery is stunning. A building I passed by looked ordinary at first glance, but part of its facade was painted and part was real. This is a lovely architectural detail unique to this place. For example, some windows are entirely painted but look very realistic.
There are many such viewpoints in Genoa. You can choose the one closest to you. If you have time, you should also visit the Staglieno Monumental Cemetery, one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. It’s full of gravestones that can be considered works of art.
There is also a lot to do in the city center, such as visiting the giant aquarium in the port, the Royal Palace, or taking a walk along Via Garibaldi. I also went to Boccadasse. You get there by passing through an industrial area a few kilometers away. And suddenly, a magnificent coast appears in front of you.
This is exactly the kind of place you'd expect from Genoa. It really has that port city vibe. The sea was stormy and the waves were enormous. People were running and walking their dogs. There are bike paths separated from car traffic. It’s a great place.
You can easily reach here by public transport or on foot. The view is incredibly beautiful. If you don’t have time to visit Portofino or Santa Margherita Ligure, definitely come here instead. Colorful houses, a stunning view, a place merged with the sea.
And yes, there was a storm that day. The waves were powerful and very impressive. Sailors still live here and sell their fish directly to the restaurants. So you have the chance to eat very fresh and local food. I recommend it.
Even small details can lift your spirit, like the stone pavements, the facades and the balconies.
Then I went to Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, the main pedestrian street of Genoa. In front of me was the Grimaldi family's palace. It was very majestic. While walking along the street, some details caught my attention. For example, this door. How old could it be? Maybe 200, maybe 300, or even 400 years old.
This street is one of the first planned streets in Italy. There are countless palaces here. The White Palace is on the left, now peach-colored and the Red Palace is on the right.
The rain was getting heavier. The Liguria region sometimes gets constant rain. But this place is also part of the region, so you just have to accept it. Even the stones on the ground are impressive. In Italy, we usually see small pebbles, but here large stone slabs are used. It looks very elegant. The gardens are never without greenery, with trees and even ferns.
On the right is the palace of the Doria family. This family had a huge impact on the history of Genoa. They played an important role in the alliance with Spain after Columbus’s discovery. At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, Genoa became very wealthy thanks to this. But then, we know what happened...
To sum it up, Genoa seems to me like a lively, energetic, yet complex city. I think it still doesn’t get the tourist attention it deserves. Everyone talks about Rome, Milan and Venice, but Genoa also deserves to be discovered.
As we said at the beginning, it may be true that Columbus buried his city, but not in the way we think. Not because of trade routes, but because of the economic laziness that followed. Today, Genoa is still complex but very interesting. And I invite you to come and see this city.
But don’t forget that to fully see Genoa, the city alone isn’t enough. The Ligurian coast, Portofino, Sestri Levante and Santa Margherita Ligure must also be visited. I’ll talk about them too.