Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino
Just a few hundred metres above Portofino's designer boutiques, the Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino protects 1,500 hectares of unspoiled Mediterranean maquis, ancient chestnut forest and dramatic cliff coast — a world away from the yachts below. A network of well-marked trails crisscrosses the headland, offering solitude, wild orchids in spring and sea views that rival anything in the Cinque
Best Trails in the Park
Trail 1 from San Fruttuoso (reached by ferry from Camogli or Portofino) climbs steeply through holm oak forest to the ridge at Monte di Portofino (610 m) before descending to Portofino village — a 3-hour circuit that passes the 11th-century Abbazia di San Fruttuoso, one of the most romantically isolated abbey complexes in Italy, accessible only by boat or on foot.
The coastal path between Camogli and Punta Chiappa is shorter (45 minutes one way) and almost flat, hugging the cliff edge through rosemary and cistus scrub with constant views of the Gulf of Genoa. Dolphins are spotted here regularly in spring and early summer.
San Fruttuoso Abbey
The Abbazia di San Fruttuoso di Camogli, owned by the FAI (Italian National Trust), sits at sea level in a tiny cove accessible only by trail or boat. Its Benedictine cloister, built in the 10th–13th centuries, backs directly onto a small beach where you can swim between visits — a combination of history and natural beauty that is genuinely hard to beat.
Eight metres below the surface of the cove rests the Cristo degli Abissi, a bronze statue of Christ placed in 1954 as a memorial to divers lost at sea. Glass-bottomed boat tours from Camogli pass directly over it on clear days.
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