Travel Counsellors - Our Travel Diaries

We were off to Wonderful Italy to Portofino, the playground of the rich and famous. British Airways was our carrier from London to Genoa, and from there we hired a car and drove to the Villa on the outskirts of Portofino.

Thank goodness for a GPS systems, most of the car hire companies hire them out, otherwise take your own with you. If you don't know the area, or the language and you are travelling on the opposite side of the road to what you are used to, the GPS will help you! This was the start of travelling through many tunnels to get to our destination; Italy has an endless number of tunnels. The car journey was approximately an hour and a half to the villa.

Our accommodation was great, the beach was close by and we were able to wake up each day to the sound of the sea.

Portofino is known as the Italian Riviera, the playground of some of the rich and famous. They may have been there as there were many large yachts in the Marina but unfortunately they were in hiding.

Each day we walked into Portofino, stopping along the way to admire the scenery. The weather was good at this time of the year (in the mid twenties). The Marina was just as I had seen in the pictures, beautiful old building, painted in different colours, with many people sitting outdoors at cafes and restaurants.

There are plenty restaurants and cafes to try out as well as many well known shops, such as Dior, Gucci etc.

The Italian ice-creams are a must, so if you see a Gelateria do stop and sample the ice-creams. Also whilst in Italy do look out for the Lemon Cello in the shops.

On the hillside opposite the Marina is the Castello Brown, this is a castle where you will get some of the most wonderful views from here, and also on this hillside is the San Giorgio Church.

From Portofino you can go to San Margherita, this is fairly close; approximately 5km’s from Portofino with wonderful beaches and this area is good for diving.

We had a wonderful time here wishing that our stay could be longer. We enjoyed nice lazy carefree days exploring the sites.

From there it’s easy enough to get to Nice and Monte Carlo (or maybe you can go to the Casino). If you have the time to spare, you could even consider going a bit further into France to Le Gourdan which is a walled town with amazing views.

Portofino can be used as a base; as it central for you to explore the many surrounding areas.

I would definitely go back again. If you need any further info on Portofino please contact me.