Genoa

Genoa's extraordinary medieval caruggi (narrow lanes) form one of the largest intact medieval centres in Europe — a UNESCO World Heritage site of towering dark palazzi, hidden churches, arched passages, and market stalls that has changed little since the 14th century.

Genoa's stunning 16th-century aristocratic boulevard — a UNESCO World Heritage street of monumental Renaissance and Baroque palaces that once hosted visiting heads of state as guests of Genoa's merchant banking elite. Several are now museums open to the public.

Genoa's magnificent striped black-and-white Gothic cathedral, begun in the 12th century — the façade's zebra stonework is one of Italy's most distinctive, and the interior treasury holds the Sacro Catino (a Roman glass dish said to be the Holy Grail) and a British shell from WWII that failed to explode.

The magnificent former seat of Genoese government — a vast Gothic and Renaissance palazzo fronting Piazza de Ferrari, with a beautifully restored interior of frescoed halls, underground prisons, and the city's main venue for blockbuster art exhibitions.

One of Europe's largest aquariums — over 12,000 marine animals in 70 tanks including a shark tunnel, penguins, dolphins, manatees, and a spectacular coral reef display. Located right at the port in the Porto Antico redevelopment, it's a five-minute walk from the cruise terminal.

Italy's largest maritime museum — a spectacular four-floor museum in a converted 16th-century shipyard building at Porto Antico telling the history of Genoese seafaring, Christopher Columbus's navigation story, and including a life-sized 17th-century warship replica that you can walk inside.

One of Genoa's most celebrated bakeries and focaccia specialists in the caruggi — the definitive stop for freshly baked focaccia Genovese (thick, olive-oil-drenched, crispy-bottomed), focaccia col formaggio from Recco, and schiacciata loaded with local herbs.

A legendary no-frills Genoese trattoria that has been feeding locals and students since 1945 — long communal tables, a handwritten daily menu on a chalkboard, and extraordinary home-cooking: pesto lasagne, trofie al pesto, ribollita, and bollito misto at prices that feel illegal.

The best place in Genoa to try farinata — a crispy, paper-thin chickpea pancake baked in enormous copper pans in a wood-fired oven and served piping hot by the slice. A Genoese staple since the 13th century and one of Italy's great street foods.

A Genoese institution for wine and cicchetti — a narrow, atmospheric enoteca near Piazza delle Erbe with over 2,000 bottles of Ligurian and Italian wine, and a generous selection of small plates: pesto bruschetta, anchovies, and local salumi.

Genoa's oldest café and bakery, open since 1828 — a beautiful Art Nouveau interior with gilded mirrors and original fittings, serving exquisite pastries, croissants, and the house speciality sacripantina (a dome of sponge, cream, and rum that Verdi reportedly adored).

Genoa's most spectacular rooftop panorama — a hilltop terrace reached by a beautiful Art Nouveau lift (the Ascensore di Castelletto) offering a sweeping 180-degree view over the entire old city, the port, and the Ligurian coast stretching in both directions.

Genoa's grand 19th-century covered shopping gallery — a magnificent iron-and-glass vaulted arcade housing boutiques, antique dealers, a historic café, and a world-class violin shop. An architectural gem and the best indoor shopping street in the city.

Genoa's magnificent covered market hall — a late 19th-century cloister market where Ligurian farmers, fishmongers, and specialty food vendors sell the finest local produce: fresh pesto in jars, anchovies packed in salt, handmade trofie pasta, and whole pecorino wheels.

One of the most glamorous villages on the Italian Riviera — a tiny harbour ringed with painted pastel houses, luxury yachts, the hilltop castle, and the walk out to the San Giorgio lighthouse with its extraordinary views over the Ligurian Sea. Pure Italian magic.

Five clifftop fishing villages linked by a famous coastal trail and accessible by train — Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso — each with coloured houses stacked above rocky coves, local focaccia, and the famous Sciacchetrà dessert wine.

Genoa's grand central piazza — dominated by a monumental bronze fountain and ringed by the neoclassical Palazzo Ducale, the stock exchange, and the Teatro Carlo Felice opera house. The heart of modern Genoa and the natural hub between the old town and the newer Via XX Settembre shopping district.

A Genoese institution since 1946 — a narrow, bustling bar in the caruggi that is the best place in the city to try local negroni variations and the classic Genoese aperitivo spread of focaccia, farinata slices, and olive tapenade, all laid out along the counter from 6pm.

The tiny pebble beach tucked in the cove below Boccadasse fishing village — a sheltered, clear-water swimming spot surrounded by the coloured fishing village houses and small boats. More scenic than Genoa's main beach and far less crowded on weekday mornings.

Genoa's oldest fishing village — a tiny cove of painted houses, fishing boats, a pebble beach, and a handful of legendary gelaterias, all within the city limits but feeling a world away from the historic centre. The coloured houses reflected in the harbour are one of Liguria's most painted scenes.