All around Genova there are hiking routes through the hills. The nearby Portofino peninsula has a few different itineraries, some take the inland route, and one hugs the coastline. Although the coastal route is labeled ‘difficult’ and some friends warned us that we’d be using chains to help us traverse the path in some sections, we thought ‘how hard could it really be?’ Besides, the views from the coastal route were supposed to be amazing.

The hike started out easy enough. We trekked through a forested area that seemed almost as lush as a rainforest and emerged high above the sea for an incredible view of the coast looking back towards Camogli, where we started the hike. As we walked along some 200 meters above sea-level and looked up at the sheer cliffs above, we thought this isn’t so bad. We even made it through a section of the path with the famous chains, which were connected to a sloping rock face next to the narrow walkway.

Around the time that we passed an out-of-breath hiker with slightly bloody knees who had just fought off a wild boar is when things started getting a little tricky. We never encountered the wild boar, but we did meet many, many more areas that required the assistance of chains, and, after descending down to near sea-level we climbed back up another giant hill, zigzagging across it dozens of times because it was just too steep to face head on. Needless to say, it was exhausting.

Finally, after 3 hours, we reached the half-way point of San Fruttuoso, a tiny village accessible only by boat or by foot. We had planned to continue on to Portofino, but our legs thought otherwise. San Fruttuoso is a popular tourist spot, so there are lots of water ferries that shuttle people to various train accessible points along the coast. We caught a ferry back to Camogli and from the comfort of the ferry’s top deck surveyed the route we had just traversed.

For more of our pictures from the hike, click here.

Last Modified : July 11th, 2007
Filed under : Italy, Trips
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