Genoa

I really like the aquarium. It is designed to resemble different types of ships. They have dolphins, which is controversial, but my son and I spent a delightful 5 or so minutes alone in the underwater viewing room, which has a 10m high glass wall. It was very peaceful. Until a loud family entered the room.

Depends on your interests. I was just there. To me, the old center is a combination of Venice and Naples: narrow streets with tall buildings that seem to almost touch at the top. Gritty but visually cool. I am into art and architecture, so I visited the Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco and several churches. The waterfront is touristy. Don't care for aquariums. One restaurant I can recommend is Trattoria da Mario near the Principe station. Went there with my Airbnb host. Authentic, no-nonsense, and incredibly cheap. They don't speak English, and it is full of colorful locals.

Here's what I wrote in another Genoa post here:

In Genoa, we greatly enjoyed Enrica's tasting tour: https://www.asmallkitcheningenoa.com/genoa-food-tour/

I'm saying this as someone who hardly ever likes tours and usually avoids them.

Enrica also kindly set us up to tour one of the basil greenhouses in Pra where the best basil is supposed to come from: https://www.serresulmare.com/en/

I'm pretty sure that this tour was the only tour I've ever been on that I 100% loved. I'm a gardener, I adore basil pesto, and I have visited greenhouses many times at home because of my volunteer job with a large plant sale. You just cannot believe what goes into producing thousands of perfect baby basil plants for the cooks of Liguria and (I think) some of the rest of Italy.

The museums along the Strada Novo are a must in my opinion. Several things I found interesting:
- Lots of paintings by lesser known Flemish and Dutch golden age painters. Very interesting paintings, and you can really get up close and look at details. There is a funny series of paintings representing the months of the year, in a style similar to Breughel, with lots of cute jokes and tableaux. Also lots of versions of the similar scene, as rich Genoese merchants continuously had their painters copy what they saw in the salons of other rich Genoese merchants.
- The mezzanine in the Palazzo Rosso. (the red palace). It has a painted ceiling, but because this ceiling is unusually low you can look at it up close. Fascinating as you can see the brush strokes, the structure, and really can get familiar with how those painted ceilings that are otherwise high above you are made.

We ended up there more or less by accident. it was however worth the visit. Oh and ride the escalator up to
Balbi :-) One of the weirdest rides I have ever come across.

Also, several black and white striped Romanesque churches: Cathedral of San Lorenzo, Basilica di Santa Maria di Castello, Chiesa di San Donato, and Santo Stefano.

The monumental cemetery --- not as spectacular as Milan's but good. There's a bus to it.

Our favorite place to eat was called Sa Pesta --- pretty much street food plus savory pies, but with tables and chairs. I recommend getting both of the antipasti platters.

You could take a short train ride to Camogli --- a lovely little place on the water with great food and scenery. Colorful buildings like in the Cinque Terre.

We really enjoyed Genoa and mostly just wandered around. Two excellent restaurants I'd recommend (both are Michelin listed but are informal rather than fancy and are not exorbitant) - Rosmarino and Il Rune. Both are warm and welcoming, and serve Ligurian cuisine that is absolutely delicious.

Thank you for some great suggestions.