Genoa

The Porto Antico is the old commercial port, turned into a pedestrian waterfront by Renzo Piano for the 1992 Columbus celebrations. Along the quays you will find the Aquarium, the Biosfera, a glass greenhouse suspended over the water, and the Bigo, the white crane-like structure with a panoramic lift that rises above the rooftops. Harbour tours and boats to the Riviera di Levante leave from here.

The Genoa Aquarium is one of the largest in Europe and the most visited sight in the city. The route passes tanks of dolphins, sharks, penguins and seals and takes two to three hours. Weekends, Easter and Italian bank holidays bring queues: buy tickets online and choose the first time slot of the morning.

In the Darsena, a few minutes from the Aquarium, the Galata Museo del Mare tells the story of Genoa and the sea: a full-size reconstruction of a galley, nautical charts and rooms on Italian emigration to the Americas. The Nazario Sauro submarine is moored outside and can be visited inside. With teenagers, it pairs well with the Aquarium.

Behind the harbour the old town begins: lanes squeezed between six- and seven-storey houses, small squares, workshops and hidden churches. The carruggi of Genoa are best explored without a plan, but two streets are worth keeping in mind: Via San Luca, the medieval merchants’ street, and Via del Campo, made famous by the songwriter Fabrizio De André. At Via del Campo 29 rosso there is a small museum dedicated to Genoa’s singer-songwriters.

On the harbour side, Palazzo San Giorgio has the most photographed frescoed façade in the city. It was the seat of the Banco di San Giorgio, one of Europe’s first banks, and now houses the port authority. Opposite, the medieval arcades of Sottoripa have sold fried fish, focaccia and farinata for centuries: the right place for a standing lunch.

The Cathedral of San Lorenzo is easy to spot thanks to its black-and-white striped façade, typical of medieval Genoa’s important churches, and the marble lions on the steps. Inside are the Treasury Museum and, in the right aisle, a British shell from the Second World War that crashed through the roof without exploding.

Piazza De Ferrari is the heart of the modern city, with its large bronze fountain, the Carlo Felice opera house and the old Stock Exchange. From here Via XX Settembre, the arcaded shopping street, heads east, and Via Roma leads to the Galleria Mazzini.

The square is also home to the Palazzo Ducale, the seat of the Republic’s government. Construction began at the end of the 13th century and it became the doge’s residence in 1339. After a fire in 1777 it was rebuilt in neoclassical style; the medieval Grimaldina Tower survives. Today it hosts the city’s major exhibitions: see the Palazzo Ducale website.

Five minutes from De Ferrari, Porta Soprana is the medieval gateway to the city: two crenellated towers either side of an arch, part of the walls begun in 1155 to defend Genoa against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. At its foot stands the house of Christopher Columbus, a small 18th-century reconstruction of the home where the navigator spent his youth.

Via Garibaldi, the 16th-century “Strada Nuova”, is Genoa’s most elegant street: in less than 300 metres one great family palace follows another, with frescoed entrance halls and courtyards. The Palazzi dei Rolli were the noble residences listed in the official registers (“rolli”) of houses obliged to host kings, popes and ambassadors on state visits; 42 of them are UNESCO-listed.

Three palaces on Via Garibaldi form the Musei di Strada Nuova: Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria Tursi, the town hall, with paintings by Van Dyck, Rubens and Caravaggio, and Paganini’s violin. Opening times and tickets are on the Musei di Genova website. Twice a year, during the Rolli Days, private palaces open too: in 2026 at the end of March and in mid-October.

For a view over Genoa without the climb, take the Castelletto Levante lift from Piazza Portello: in a few seconds you are on the Spianata di Castelletto, the city’s best-known viewpoint, with slate roofs, domes and the harbour below. On the other side of the centre, above Principe station, the Castello d’Albertis is the neo-Gothic home of a naval captain, now the Museum of World Cultures, with another panoramic terrace.

The Lanterna is Genoa’s lighthouse and the symbol of the city, guarding the harbour entrance for centuries. You can reach it on foot along a protected walkway beside the port, starting near the ferry terminal; on opening days you can climb to the first terrace and visit the museum at its base.

Boccadasse is the old fishing village on the city’s eastern side: a small pebble beach, boats pulled up on the shore and colourful houses stacked one above the other. Get there by bus from the centre or walk along Corso Italia, the seafront promenade of more than two kilometres starting from the Foce district. Come at sunset; on summer weekends it gets very busy.

The large glass sphere designed by Renzo Piano at the Old Port, with a small tropical forest inside.

Genoa’s most famous viewpoint, reached by the Art Nouveau lift from Piazza Portello: rooftops, port and lighthouse.

Genoa’s cathedral, with its black-and-white striped façade, marble lions and the Treasury Museum.

The basilica of the Santissima Annunziata del Vastato, one of Genoa’s richest Baroque interiors, just off Via del Campo.

The largest maritime museum in the Mediterranean, in the Darsena: galleys, emigration, Columbus and the Nazario Sauro submarine.

The lighthouse that symbolises Genoa, 77 metres high on the San Benigno promontory: you can climb up to the panoramic terrace.

Large historic parks overlooking the sea at Nervi, with villas, museums and the Anita Garibaldi promenade.

The old port renewed by Renzo Piano: the Aquarium, the Bigo, the Biosphere and a seaside promenade in the heart of Genoa.

Via Garibaldi and the UNESCO-listed noble palaces: Palazzo Rosso, Bianco and Tursi, the Strada Nuova museums.

One of Europe’s most important monumental cemeteries: an open-air museum of nineteenth-century sculpture in the hills of Genoa.

A walking route through Europe’s largest historic centre, from Piazza Caricamento to Via San Luca and Via del Campo.

The small museum of Genoese singer-songwriters in the Via del Campo shop celebrated by De André, with guitars and memorabilia.