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Cinque Terre
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But perhaps the most striking thing for the traveler is the beauty of the seascapes, with some of the most celebrated views in Italy, suspended between the intense blue of the sea and the green mountains. The area of Portofino boasts an exceptional natural heritage that includes traces of rural and nautical civilizations, splendid religious architecture, and clusters of rural houses surrounded by tiny orchards and sections of land planted with grape vines and olive trees.
In about 30 minutes from Portofino, coasting along the west side of the Promontory you reach the locality of Olmi. At this point you can take the track for Prato, among olive trees, vines and fruit trees. From here you can walk a good part of the way looking at the sea, at the small bays (e.g. The English inlet) of the underlying coast. There is then a long stretch of path exposed to the sun among the Mediterranean vegetation which at first nearly inaccessible and hostile and then surprisingly rich in colours and scents thanks to myrtles, heathers, strawberry trees and Holm-oaks. You can walk the stretch of path till the hospitable and out of the way bay of San Fruttuoso in the shade of the pines, which hide the sky with their branches. I advise you to seek out the Val Cava d'Oro in the woods above. This is an old cave which acted as a deposit where pirates stashed their loot. The trail that goes from Portofino to San Fruttuoso is also something you should not miss. You can in alternative take a boat ride to reach San Fruttuoso. The sea around the coast of Portofino is a protected marine reserve - www.riservaportofino.it And don't miss a visit to the Brown Castle, there is a terrace with breathtaking view on both the open sea and the Bay of Portofino (the pictures in this page are all shot from the terrace). The Brown Castle was a stronghold of enormous strategic importance, it watched over the entire Tigullio Gulf and the towns located along its coast, not to mention the transport routes leading over the Eastern Ligurian Apennine Mountains. Flanked by the nearby fortress and adjacent lookout tower, the stronghold guarded wide stretches of the Upper Tyrrehnian Sea. This site became a vital stronghold fort the protection of vessels and a strategic lookout within the fortification system defending the Tigullio coastline from covert landings. It was located in a strategic position for sanitary controls too, which were done to prevent as much as possible plagues and infections. Now the Castle is a Portofino municipal property since 1961 and it is the seat of the offices of the Sea-Park.
Restaurant prices in Portofino are really extremely high: if you want to eat on the "piazzetta" you will pay for the location, the view, and the privilege of doing so. If you want a restaurant on a budget, but with more than decent quality, even if not on the waterfront, try a place where the locals go: Trattoria Concordia, 4, Via del Fondaco, Portofino Mare Phone 0185 269207. In summertime, on Saturdays, the night trip from Portofino to Genoa is very romantic. Copycats Portofinos:Portofino has even been recreated in stupendous detail around the 'harbor' at Tokyo DisneySea in Chiba, Japan, and to a much lesser extent, the Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, but these are just pale copies of the original, as they are missing the magic of the wooded hills surrounding the original Portofino, the blue of the sea as well as the magic of the atmosphere, of the people, of the food....
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