Genoa in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Genoa covers 18 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Genoa rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Caruggi: The Medieval Alleyways: Genoa's extraordinary medieval labyrinth of narrow alleyways, some barely 80 cm wide, the largest medieval urban centre in Europe, wrapped around the Strade Nuove and Palazzi dei Rolli inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.
2. Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace): The great palace of Genoa's medieval republic, seat of the Doges for centuries, now a major cultural centre hosting world-class exhibitions and events.
3. Piazza De Ferrari: Genoa's magnificent main square, a grand Art Nouveau fountain at its centre, flanked by the Carlo Felice opera house, the Stock Exchange, and the Palazzo Ducale.
4. Cathedral of San Lorenzo: Genoa's magnificent Romanesque-Gothic cathedral with its striking black and white striped marble facade, and the extraordinary exhibit of an intact British naval shell that failed to explode in WWII.
5. Via Garibaldi: Street of the Rich: A UNESCO World Heritage street, the finest Renaissance merchant palaces in the world, built by Genoa's greatest merchant families in the 16th century, now housing major art museums.

Afternoon

1. Galata Museo del Mare: The largest maritime museum in the Mediterranean, featuring a full-scale 17th-century Genoese galley, the visitable submarine Nazario Sauro, and the history of Atlantic emigration.
2. Acquario di Genova: The largest aquarium in Europe, home to dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, and penguins, built for the 1992 World Expo and now one of Italy's most-visited attractions.
3. Portofino: Italy's most glamorous fishing village, a tiny, exquisite harbour ringed by pastel-coloured houses, luxury yachts, and the forested hill of the Castello Brown, 37 kilometres east of Genoa.
4. Boccadasse: Genoa's most charming neighbourhood, a tiny fishing cove east of the city centre with pastel-coloured houses stacked above a small pebble beach, beloved gelateria, and harbour boats.

Day 2

Morning

1. Staglieno Cemetery: One of the most extraordinary cemeteries in the world, a vast hillside necropolis with monumental sculptures of breathtaking quality, visited by Mark Twain, and the burial place of Oscar Wilde's wife, Constance.
2. Nervi & Coastal Promenade: A romantic eastern suburb of Genoa with a 2km cliff-top promenade past Art Nouveau villas and rocky sea views, and the Parchi di Nervi, Genoa's most beautiful public gardens.
3. Columbus's Birthplace: The traditional birthplace of Christopher Columbus in the heart of Genoa, a small medieval house near Porta Soprana, where history and legend meet in the alleyways where the world's greatest explorer grew up.
4. Piazza Banchi & Mercantile Heart: Genoa's ancient commercial heart, a medieval square where merchants once gathered, flanked by the Loggia dei Mercanti and the church of San Pietro in Banchi, connecting the caruggi to the old port.
5. Castelletto Viewpoint: A panoramic hilltop neighbourhood above Genoa with a public lift from Piazza Portello, the best free viewpoint over the city, port, and Ligurian Sea.

Afternoon

1. Pesto Genovese & Mercato Orientale: The birthplace of pesto, Genoa invented the world's most famous pasta sauce from DOP Genovese basil, Ligurian olive oil, Parmigiano, pecorino, pine nuts, and garlic, pounded in a marble mortar, best experienced at the Mercato Orientale.
2. Via del Campo: The most famous street in the caruggi, immortalised in Fabrizio De André's folk ballad "Via del Campo" (1967), where a simple flower girl became the subject of one of Italy's greatest songs, and the tradition of Genoese cantautori lives on.
3. Parco di Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini: A magnificent 19th-century Romantic park at Pegli, 15km west of Genoa, designed as an elaborate theatrical landscape with grottos, fake Gothic ruins, Egyptian temples, lakeside temples, and winding paths through dense vegetation.
4. Genoese Cuisine & Focaccia Culture: The essential Genoese food experience, authentic focaccia (flat, olive-oiled, dimpled) baked in wood-fired ovens, farinata (chickpea pancake) from the port area, trofie al pesto, and the extraordinary cappon magro seafood salad.

Full Genoa guide and all stops →