Italian Riviera

Not sure that I’d even heard of Portofino on the Italian Riviera until it was mentioned in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the classic 1988 comedy starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin. Still, it was a place that someday I’d visit. Andrea and I had just hiked in Switzerland and were on our way to Rome – with Flixbus offering a direct bus service from Geneva to Genoa it seemed like a perfect time to break up our trip further south. Portofino, famous for its celebrities and superyachts, was well over our budget so we happily settled for 4 nights in the town of Camogli a little further north. From there it was an easy train ride to one of the Rivieras other hotspots, Cinque Terre. Another 4 nights in Levanto was preferred over the overpriced, albeit beautiful, accommodation in one of the five boutique seaside villages that give this hugely popular location its name.

After more than seven hours stuck on board a bus it was a blessing to finally arrive into Genoa, even if it was after 1am. We fortunately already had a reservation at a cheap hotel close to the bus station – the few inebriated undesirables made us glad the walk was only a few minutes! From here on south along the picturesque riviera it was all short rides on Italy’s cheap and punctual rail network, Trenitalia.