Portofino Port-Any recommendations?

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are a party of 8 on on the Ocean Princess which makes a stop at Portofino. We have been there before, and remember it to be gorgeous, but quite small. Has anyone used a private tour company for an excursion to Santa Margherita and/or Rapallo, or anywhere else recommended? We have all day (7a-8P) in port, so plenty of time!

[grunt46]

I booked a shore excursion to Portofino and Rapallo through www.shoreexcursionsinitaly.com.

We will be on the "Noordam" docking at Santa Margherita ligure on July 28th.

We had some friends who already experienced this company and they highly recommended them.:)

 

 

 

 

 

We are a party of 8 on on the Ocean Princess which makes a stop at Portofino. We have been there before, and remember it to be gorgeous, but quite small. Has anyone used a private tour company for an excursion to Santa Margherita and/or Rapallo, or anywhere else recommended? We have all day (7a-8P) in port, so plenty of time!

[graceinmelbourne]

We are a party of 8 on on the Ocean Princess which makes a stop at Portofino. We have been there before, and remember it to be gorgeous, but quite small. Has anyone used a private tour company for an excursion to Santa Margherita and/or Rapallo, or anywhere else recommended? We have all day (7a-8P) in port, so plenty of time!

 

 

Do you really need to do a tour at Portofino?? Portofino is very small and it is easy to see the sights on your own. You can do the beautiful cliff top walk to Santa Margharita. I can't remember how long the walk took as it was quite a few years ago but it was very scenic and wasn't difficult. You can get the bus back to Portofino afterwards.

[KirkNC]

Grunt46,

 

I am on that same cruise. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Sunsetbeachga

 

I don't think you need a tour. You can take either the bus or ferry to Santa Margherita. The bus is 1 euro and the ferry is 5 euros for a one way or 8 euros for a round trip. Another option is to walk a trail between the two towns. I think it is around 2.5 miles. Our plan on July 28th is to do the opposite of you. We are taking the ferry to Portofino, seeing the sites and heading back to SM for lunch. After lunch we are doing a walking tour of SM (this is without a guide). Our per person cost will be less than 10 euros (not counting lunch :D). Both Portofino and Santa Margherita are small and easily explored on your own with a giude book.

 

Kirk

[shemp2000]

We took the local bus from Portofino to Santa Margherita which was about a 10 minute ride. From there a train ride to the Cinque Terre (only because there was a train strike to the Cinque Terra a day earlier in a nearer port). The train ride was around 45 minutes if I recall. We spent about 4 hours, which was not nearly enough time before heading back. Spent about 1 hour in Santa Margherita and then another 1.5 in Portofino.

 

It was a fun but busy day.

[vadell]

We have taken three holidays in the region once staying in Portofino, once in Rapallo and another time in Santa Margherita always using public transport. It is very easy to get from one town to the other, the ferry runs between all three, there is the bus from all three and the train also runs from Santa Margherita to Rapallo. The other alternative is a small private launch which we once took from Portofino, you would not need to take a tour. We also visited Camogli, San Frutossa and the Cinque Terre using public transport. There were always plenty of taxis around in Rapallo and Santa Margerita as well.

[Susan H]

We have taken three holidays in the region once staying in Portofino, once in Rapallo and another time in Santa Margherita always using public transport. It is very easy to get from one town to the other, the ferry runs between all three, there is the bus from all three and the train also runs from Santa Margherita to Rapallo. The other alternative is a small private launch which we once took from Portofino, you would not need to take a tour. We also visited Camogli, San Frutossa and the Cinque Terre using public transport. There were always plenty of taxis around in Rapallo and Santa Margerita as well.

 

We will be stopping in Portofino on a cruise in a couple of weeks. We've been there before, as well as, Santa Margherita & San Fruttuoso. We loved Santa Margherita and plan to go back there. We were also planning to take the ferry to Rapallo. In researching, I understand there's a pretty castle that can not be entered and a cable ride up (lovely view)to a church. Did you enjoy the town? Is the promenade area pretty? Is there anything else you can tell me about Rapallo? Have you ever been to Chiavari?

[notentirelynormal]

They just changed ports on us and two other cruises around us on the Ocean Princess. Check to make sure you are still going. The dates for Barcelona and Nice got changed to one day advanced and instead of a sea day then Portofino, we now have La Goulette, Tunisia then the sea day. :( I am not a happy camper right now!

[Susan H]

They just changed ports on us and two other cruises around us on the Ocean Princess. Check to make sure you are still going. The dates for Barcelona and Nice got changed to one day advanced and instead of a sea day then Portofino, we now have La Goulette, Tunisia then the sea day. :( I am not a happy camper right now!

 

Thanks for the heads up on your Princess cruise change. I just checked and ours is still the same itinerary. We're on Pacific Princess due in Portofino on Mon., Aug. 30.