Italy's most glamorous harbour — pastel villas reflected in a perfect bay where Ligurian fishermen became hosts to the global super-rich
Portofino is a tiny fishing village on a rocky promontory south of Genoa that became the defining image of Italian glamour in the 1950s and 60s when Rex Harrison, Humphrey Bogart, and Grace Kelly brought Hollywood here. The horseshoe harbour lined with pastel villas, the piazzetta with its outdoor restaurants, and the Church of San Giorgio above the bay are among the most reproduced images of Italy. Today it's expensive, crowded in summer, and accessible only by boat or on foot from the parking in nearby Santa Margherita — but the Portofino Marine Protected Area's underwater scenery and the c…
Portofino's name derives from 'Portus Delphini' (Dolphin Harbour) in Latin, reflecting its use as a natural shelter for Roman vessels. It was a Genoese fishing village for centuries; the Castello Brown above the harbour was a Genoese fortification rebuilt in the 16th century. The modern transformation began when Genoa-born writer Guy de Maupassant visited in 1889 and published articles about its beauty, followed by English aristocrats building villas in the hills. The 1950s brought the international jet set; the Italian government eventually restricted development so severely that the village…