Portofino: A guide to the perfect day in Italy on a budget!

The Crown jewel of the Italian Riviera. Recognized for its glitz and glamour by the 1950s, tourists now flock to this beautiful hot spot hoping for a little luxury, some beautiful views

The small fishing village is lined with beautiful pastel houses around the crescent shaped harbour.

Portofino oozes luxury and old world charm and has always attracted the rich and famous; Beyonce, the Kardashians, and Robert De Niro just to name a few!

The Best things to do in Portofino

If you're on a budget in Portofino, to be completely honest your options will be more limited. There's no doubt about it, Portofino is an expensive little town with restaurants charging a premium for it's location. We had coffee and a toastie on the harbour and the bill came to $32 .. ouch!! BUT, it is entirely possible to still soak up the beauty of this quaint place without needing to drop a large amount of Euros!

Check out our Youtube Vlog on Portofino here

People Watching

One of our favourite things to do was to sit and people watch, it's an awesome spot to watch all the different tourists and locals buzz around the town. We chose a café right on the water and enjoyed a Cappuccino, watching the world go by enjoying the sun and it was one of our favourite mornings in Italy!

Walk the steps to San Giorgio church

From the port you can take the steps up to this beautiful small church of San Giorgio. A fantastic view over the Portofino harbour awaits at the top where you can sit on the bench and take a little breather after the steep steps.

Go for a swim

This small but perfectly formed town only has 500 residents and doesn't really have a beach as such, however we did find a small swimming spot and joined some locals first thing in the morning which we can recommend. There is a small footpath just outside of the main town centre just next to Baia Cannone you can reach here just 5 mins or so by foot. After a slightly sweaty walk, the beautiful blue ocean was calling us to jump in and cool off!

Take a photo outside the coloured buildings

Enjoy the yachts

Whether down at the port of from up to at the church, check out the huge yachts that come in to port here. Although we weren't lucky enough to see any super famous celebs (maybe next time) its a great vibe to check out these huge luxury boats up close

Browse the shops

Although there are some very expensive shops, there are also some lovely little spots in and around the small alley ways! You can buy anything from beautiful dresses to small souvenirs to take away with you.

How to get to Portofino

Campervans and large vehicles are banned from entering Portofino and so it will take some planning to get to the town. We left our motorhome at Camping Rapallo and had to get 2 different buses from Rapallo. We did a FULL VLOG on our journey, exactly how to get there & how much it costs so you can plan for budget as well. You can check this information out here: Portofino and how to get there

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