Santa Margherita Ligure

Portofino is the ultimate Mediterranean postcard. This tiny, impossibly picturesque fishing village, nestled on a promontory on the Italian Riviera, seems plucked from a golden age of glamour. Its famous harbor is a crescent of pastel-colored houses framed by lush, green hills, a vision that has drawn artists, aristocrats, and jet-setters for decades. The harbor is too small for large cruise ships, preserving its intimate scale. It is a place to stroll the pristine Piazzetta, admire the moored yachts, and enjoy a coffee while watching the fishermen. Beyond the iconic harbor, a network of hiking trails leads to the quieter, equally beautiful Paraggi beach and the stunning Castello Brown, a former Elizabethan residence with panoramic coastal views. It is a place of curated, effortless beauty, where the simple act of sitting by the water becomes an exercise in pure indulgence.

Tucked into a fjord‑like inlet between Camogli and Portofino, the Abbazia di San Fruttuoso materialises like a mirage — a 10th‑century Benedictine abbey framed by cliffs, cypress, and water the colour of beaten copper. Reached only by boat or a steep coastal trail, the complex layers Romanesque cloisters, a Byzantine dome, and a crypt housing the relics of Saint Fructuosus. The abbey’s silhouette against the sea has drawn everyone from Saracen pirates to D’Annunzio; today it shelters the Cristo degli Abissi, a bronze Christ submerged offshore, arms raised in eternal benediction. The tiny pebble beach in front of the church fills quickly, but the abbey’s cool stone aisles and the scent of salt and pine in the cloister offer a sanctuary that feels centuries away from the Riviera’s glamour.