Genoa

Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. It is also called la Superba ("the Superb one") due to its glorious past. Part of the old city of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) in 2006. The city's rich art, music, gastronomy, architecture and history, made it 2004's EU Capital of culture.

Venice, Rome, Milan, and Florence are of course the most known and admired towns in Italy. When moving to north-western Italy (Milan, Turin) it is nevertheless absolutely worth staying for a couple of days or a weekend in Genoa. The city is a good base to explore the Italian Riviera and world famous places like Portofino and the Cinque Terre.

Genoa can be easy travelled to by train from Milan, Turin, Rome, Tuscany and France. There are two main train stations in Genoa, Brignole and Principe. Brignole serves most local routes and provides access to many bus lines. Principe serves local as well as long distance trains and many trains from Milan and beyond will only stop at this station.

There regular buses servicing the whole city, but the timetables one can see at stops are not always reliable. In addition to this there is a short tube railway connecting the city center with the train station of Principe and the peripheral district of Rivarolo. With the tube connection is also possible to cross the medieval center which usually has too narrow streets for cars or busses. Trains travel through the whole city in the east/west direction; this is probably the best way to travel if you plan to see some peripheral districts on the coastline, as no bus travels for the whole width of the city.

The historical center is serviced by bus only around some important squares and streets (Piazza Acquaverde for Stazione di Piazza Principe, Piazza della Nunziata, Largo Zecca, Piazza Corvetto, Piazza Caricamento); caruggi are best seen on foot. You can take the boat from the Porto Antico to visit Pegli and the public park of Pallavicini or you can take other boats from the Old Harbour and travel along the coast to Camogli, San Fruttuoso, Portofino, Chiavari and the Cinqueterre. For the most you can however explore within walking distance in the historical center of the old town, the largest middle age town of Europe.