Another beautiful day as we say goodbye to Celle Ligure and continue our journey along the coastal road, after a scenic stint we endure lots of traffic and traffic lights as we drive through Genova – mostly it is a large port with 4 huge cruise ships in dock as we drive passed with terraces of terracotta apartment blocks and lots of construction work taking place in the town itself. They also appear to be working on an expansive promenade beyond the port but unfortunately there were nose to tail cars parked all the way along the front, with not a chance for us stop to get a better look. Eventually we work our way through the town and the coastal road becomes increasingly windy passing high above the few coastal resorts that appear every now and again. We did just manage one brief stop – high above St Margherita….

From here it was a windy and steep decline down into Rapallo, through the town to our Aire for the night – the hospital car park. The were already about 15 vans in the nearly empty of cars car park and we were able to park up without any bother.

We had originally planned, assuming that we would have had a couple of stops on the way, to stay overnight and visit St Margherita and Portofino tomorrow but as it is barely noon we decide to crack on and visit them today. Armed with our roamer bus pass we board a bus, without checking that it is going to St Margherita and it was only as we left Rapallo behind that I realised we were headed east rather than west! Frustratingly this cost us an hour, but no matter we were soon on the right bus and in fact St Margherita is only a couple of miles away….

We alight in the centre of town and wander along the sea front and Spiaggia St Margherita….

Passing the huge Marina and into the Old Town….

On the west side of the old town is Spiaggia Minaglia and heading towards Portofino, Spiaggia Gino e Rino….

We cheat half way to Portofino as the footpath is becoming a bit hit and miss and the road is very narrow (anything larger than a car is only allowed beyond this point for access) and hop on a bus (minibus really) for the last bit, catching a glimpse of Baia Cannone….

Portofino did not disappoint, though busy it is a charming small harbour village, clearly frequented by the cruise ships as the shops are Dior, Louis Vuitton and Missoni and the like but pretty all the same….

We had a good wander around, sat and people watched for a while before catching the bus back to St Margherita and then on to Rapallo and back to a very hot van!!

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 44
• Miles walked – 6
• Beaches – 4
• Bus ticket – £8.68
• O/N – £10.40