Discover Genoa

Genoa is Italy's sixth-largest city at 566,247 people, the busiest port in both Italy and the Mediterranean, and the one major Italian city most visitors pass through without stopping. That last fact is structural rather than accidental: Genoa is the gateway to the Ligurian Riviera, so the traffic heading for Portofino and the Cinque Terre moves straight through it.

What it misses is a city with one of the largest and most densely populated historic centres in Europe — a warren of alleys called caruggi, some of them barely shoulder-width, running between six-storey buildings on the slope above the harbour. In 2006 UNESCO inscribed Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli under criteria (ii) and (iv): the planned aristocratic streets of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Via Garibaldi, Via Cairoli and Via Balbi, and the palaces along them.

The thing to understand about the Rolli

The inscription covers 42 palaces out of more than a hundred still standing in the centre — and in many cases they are privately owned. This is the single most useful fact about visiting Genoa, because it means the city's World Heritage Site is mostly not enterable. What can be entered are the three palaces of the Musei di Strada Nuova, the Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola and the Museo di Palazzo Reale, and the courtyards and entrance halls of many of the rest are visible from the street. Licensed guides run tours through the centre every Saturday in search of the others.

A republic that lasted seven centuries

Genoa was an independent maritime republic from the eleventh century until 1797, with a reach that ran to the Black Sea, and it financed much of Europe: the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is the oldest state deposit bank. Christopher Columbus was born here around 1451, and the Expo of 1992 that marked the fifth centenary of his first voyage is what rebuilt the old harbour as a public space.

The shape of the city

Genoa is long and narrow — it runs 30 kilometres along the coast from Voltri to Nervi and only about 10 kilometres inland up the Polcevera and Bisagno valleys, squeezed between the Ligurian Sea and the Apennines. There is almost no flat ground, which is why the city stacks vertically, why it has funiculars and public lifts, and why the Aquarium — the largest in Italy, with over 1.2 million visitors a year — sits on reclaimed harbour rather than anywhere in the centre.

Can I go inside the Rolli palaces? Some of them. The UNESCO site covers 42 palaces out of more than a hundred still standing, and in many cases they are privately owned — which is the most important thing to know before planning a day around them. The ones that are museums and open regularly are the three palaces of the Musei di Strada Nuova, the Galleria Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola and the Museo di Palazzo Reale. Many courtyards and entrance halls of the rest are visible from the street.

Is there a day that is better than others? Yes — Saturday. Licensed guides run tours through the historic centre every Saturday specifically to reach the finest palaces, which is the only reliable way to see inside ones that are not museums.

Is the old town safe? Yes, with the ordinary caution any dense city centre warrants after dark. What catches visitors out is not danger but disorientation: the caruggi are among the densest street networks in Europe, some alleys are barely shoulder-width, and a phone map struggles between six-storey buildings. Walking them in daylight is the recommendation, and getting lost is part of it.

Is Genoa worth stopping for, or just the gateway to the Riviera? Worth stopping, and the economics favour it strongly: Genoa is the rail junction for the whole Ligurian coast and a room here costs a fraction of one in Portofino or the Cinque Terre. Using Genoa as the base and the coast as the day trips is both cheaper and easier than the reverse.

How do I get around a city with no flat ground? AMT runs buses, a small metro of eight stations over 7.1 km, and — the distinctive part — funiculars and public lifts that are part of the ordinary transport network rather than tourist rides. The Zecca–Righi and Sant'Anna funiculars connect to metro stations.

Is the Aquarium worth it? It is the largest in Italy and takes about half a day, with over 1.2 million visitors a year, around 12,000 m² of exhibition route and a cetacean pavilion designed by Renzo Piano. If you are travelling with children it is the strongest single attraction in the city; if not, the palaces and the alleys are the better use of the time.