Our impressions of Genoa

We have visited Genoa on two occasions with Princess Cruises. The port is busy and was always full of ships when we visited. 

A Batman ferry and a Looney Tunes ferry!

Genoa is a home port of MSC cruise line, so you might see one of their cruise ships berthed here. We saw MSC Orchestra and MSC Meraviglia on our last cruise.

MSC Orchestra reversing into port

As we waited for the ship to dock, we admired the view of the city and thought about what we would do once we could disembark.

Pretty colourful buildings

The ship docks in the town centre, so there is no need to catch a shuttle, you can walk to see the sights.  

The beautiful port terminal

What to do? Maybe walk towards that hill!

When we arrived in Genoa for the first time, we honestly had no idea what to do, so we put out a call on Facebook for ideas! While we waited for our friends to reply, we set off on a walk towards the port area, which is not particularly scenic as you are basically walking under or alongside an overpass. Be persistent though, because the views get better! 

Palazzo San Giorgio, which is near the port area

It was quite early in the morning when we set off; we wanted to explore early before the temperature got too hot, then return to the ship for lunch so our children could spend time in the pool. So, very few passengers had disembarked and the streets were deserted of visitors. There only a few men around and no shops open! It was actually a little bit scary! Nonetheless, we plotted a walking route across the city and set off.

The starting point for our walk, little bit dark!

Lots of steps and narrow streets in Genoa!

What goes up must come down!

Copying the statues!

Piazza de Ferrari

Columbus House

After wandering through narrow streets for about an hour, and up and down lots of steps, we finally received some replies to our Facebook post, and were advised to visit the Aquarium and Piazza de Ferrari. We retraced our steps to Piazza de Ferrari, but since it was still so early in the morning, no galleries or museums were open, so we walked down Via XX Settembre to see where it went (it looked quite large, like there might be shops!). It was actually an amazing architectural street, and brought us to a small park where Arco della Vittoria is located, which leads to Scalinata delle Tre Caravelle (more steps to climb!)

Scalinata delle Tre Caravelle; more than 200 steps to the top

View from the top

Mountains in the distance

At the top, we found we could walk along the ancient city walls back towards the port area and the Aquarium.

Yet more steps, but at least they go down!

Cattedrale di San Lorenzo (this was on the walk back, as there are now people around!)

Neptune's Galleon; aaarghing like pirates!

We did visit the Aquarium, but that's another blog post! And we made it back to the ship in time for lunch, and pool fun in the afternoon. 

On our second visit to Genoa, we stayed on board until lunchtime, then popped to the market to buy some souvenirs. Our family got off the ship later in the morning and got on a HOHO bus, which took them all around the city (and past Arco delle Vittoria, where we walked earlier). If we visit again we will take a boat trip to Portofino.

Have you ever visited Genoa? Where would you recommend to visit?