In the course of our Mediterranean cruise with MSC Bellissima we could spend a day in the port city Genoa. As the cruise port is close to the city centre, we could walk directly from the ship to the old town of Genoa. First we walked through the many small alleys and also looked into some small shops along the streets. By the way, Genoa has the largest contiguous old town in Europe and is also the birthplace of Christoph Columbus. Luca also discovered a street with the same name as him while strolling around.
Highlights of the old town
Then we walked to the famous cathedral San Lorenzo, which has a strikingly striped facade. It looks very impressive from the inside, so it is definitely worth a look.
We continued our walk to the Piazza de Ferrari. This really beautiful place attracts attention by its huge fountain. From the square we walked past the opera of Genoa and looked at the beautiful house facades. We especially liked the colorful little handicrafts across the street.
View over Genoa
Another highlight of the city that we can definitely recommend is the viewpoint “Spianata Castelletto”. There is also an elevator that leads directly to this platform and is very worthwhile. Unfortunately we did not find this elevator, so we walked. From the viewing platform you have a great view over the city of Genoa, the harbour and the sea. Afterwards we walked through the old town towards the old harbour. There is also a big aquarium but we didn’t have a look at it because of our time constraints. If you walk past the aquarium you come to a jetty from where you can see the cruise ship in its full length and take wonderful pictures.
Things you should have done in Genoa:
- A walk through the alleys of the old city
- Visit the Cathedral San Lorenzo
- See the Piazza de Ferrari
- Visit the viewpoint “Spianata Castelletto“