July 1 Santa Margherita Ligure & Portofino (Day 278)

We caught the 10:30 train this cloudy morning for the one hour ride to Santa Margherita Ligure, a small town along the Ligurian coast north of the Cinque Terre. We then boarded the public bus to the even smaller town of Portofino, a 15 minute ride along the impossibly narrow winding road hugging the coast around tiny bays, with a mega yacht and small cruise ship anchored further out among motorboats and sailboats. A quick walk around the really tiny port and beach of Portofino (population of only 400), seeing the high end shops and the crowds of tourists, was enough in the heat of the day. It is a picturesque spot if you can see beyond the crowds.

The restaurants and cafes lining the waterfront were packed!

The park like setting rising up the hill opposite the beach looked inviting, but we didn’t know if it is private property or a public park!

Ed had read that recently the whole town of Portofino had been rented for a day by a rich family for a pre-wedding celebration!

We caught the little bus back to S. Margherita where we walked some of its waterfront and found a restaurant for lunch. There is more room to roam here and we leisurely walked back to the train station.

Another monument to Cristoforo Colombo!

Ahhh, truly living ‘La Dolce Vita’, the Sweet Life!

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