Portofino, or the "beautiful port" as the name means in Italian, is one of the most exclusive holiday resorts in Italy. Due to its sheltered position on the coast, it has served as a port since Roman times, but nowadays it is more of a luxury resort filled with millionaire yachts than a fishing village.
As you can imagine, it costs a bit to stay here, but you can easily stop off here for a daytrip without spending too much. On the way you can visit the fortress and S. Giorgio Church and enjoy the view from up there. You'll also find a museum with outdoor sculptures beautifully set among olive trees, oaks and slender cypress trees. You can also get here by tourist boat. There is a famous diving centre just outside town where the Canadian 'Mohawck Deer' sank here in the year 1967 during a heavy storm on the way to scrapping in La Spezia, and is now a wreck diving site.
The town is situated on the extreme southern point of a small peninsula on the coast between Genoa and the fantastic nature area of the Cinque Terre, and some of the nearest neighbouring towns are Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure and Camogli. Despite its reputation as a holiday spot for the rich, you can still find ordinary people in Portofino, the people who do the laundry for example like in every town. Outside of weekends and high season, you will find a small town without too many tourists and a few recreational fishermen pulling their boats ashore after a day on the water.
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The port is currently characterized by restaurants, which are housed in the numerous pastel-coloured houses, while the few streets in the town offer branded stores, which makes one think of the main street in Milan or Rome. There are no prices on the restaurants menus as money is not an object for people who come to stay here.
