We’ve had an awesome few days taking in as much of this beautiful place as we can. This included a trip to Portofino. Portafino is a lovely coastal town about an hour by bus (40 minutes by ferry) from Rapallo.

The bus from Rapallo to Santa Margherita was a pretty everyday, as you’d expect bus trip, but the bus from Santa Margherita to Portofino could easily qualify as an Olympic sport. It was nuts, and even more so on the return. Nonnos, Nonnes, mums, dads, kids and dogs in strollers all vying for the sacred spot on the bus – wowsers! You really need to wear your big girl/boy/person pants if you want to get even a standing spot (winning a lottery might be easier than getting a seat) on the bus! I can’t remember it being this crazy the last time we were here. But I guess there are lots of people everywhere. And once you have your spot hold on tight as you swing around the curving, narrow roads dodging Lycra clad bicycle riders, limousines, the odd Ferrari or Lamborghini as well as people walking on the road. It’s pretty exhilarating and for me a reminder why I’ll never drive here 😳. “They” say it’s all about having confidence.

But then you arrive you feel (well I felt 🤣) the transferred glow of the wonderfully rich and fabulous people of the world. They gather here on the Italian and also the French Riviera.

Portofino is a fishing village on the Italian Riviera coastline on the Ligurian Sea. It has the classic pastel coloured buildings of each of the villages, along with designer shops and cafes filled with gorgeous people wearing amazing clothes drinking Champagne. I do love so much the reason for the colourful homes, that being so that fisherman could identify them from the see.

Hannah’s makes the climb up to the castle for the fantastic views, while the rest of us simply sit and people watch. Here’s a link to my post from the last time we were here (with photos) . Ah Rapallo,

Hannah and Nick ferry it home to Rapallo while Steve and I brave the elements on the bus. Sadly I’m a bit too polite initially and so we are pushed out of our prime spot as the bus pulls up, but we don’t miss out on the next one as it’s swings in front of us about 15 minutes later.

A lovely night at our Rapallo home with pasta made by Nick using our pesto – deliziosa !

On our last day Hannah and Nick spent the day at the delightful Monterossa the largest of the five villages of the Cinque Terre. Swimmers packed they spent a beautiful day at the beach, having calamari and chips under an umbrella they rented for a few hours.

While they were on the beach, Steve and I meet up with our beautiful friends Ilena and Giorgia for a cafe latte overlooking Rapallo.

For our final night here, we have dinner at a lovely restaurant on the boardwalk. The pasta, pizza and wine were divine 🥂.

There are a lot of reasons I love Rapallo. It is a lovely city, with lots of great restaurants, gelati shops, different styles of accommodation and lots to do. It is also a really central stepping stone – so you can do day trips to lots of places including what we have done on this trip! We love it and hope to come back again soon 💕