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Portofino and Cinque Terre - similar?

My husband and I are going to Cinque Terre (Vernazza) for 4 days in August, and we were recently told we have to see Portofino. When I google images, to me they look very similar but you can never tell just by pictures. So I'd love opinions - is Portofino a must see? Is it quite similar to Cinque Terre?

Posted by
11247 posts

Portofino is lovely but not a "must" IMHO. It is very expensive, but you will see beautiful yachts and spend too much for lunch. We hiked for Santa Margarita di Ligureto Portofino, had the most expensive lunch ever, then took a boat back to SML. It was since day, but done in our second d trip to the area and we had 5 days.

Don't go somewhere because someone else says you "have to." Go because your research says you want to.

Posted by
304 posts

We took the train from the Cinque Terre to Santa Margherita, then the bus into Portofino. It was a beautiful afternoon. Both towns are worth a day-trip. The two things I took away from our visit to Portofino is that it's very high-society & somewhat snooty, and it's also very beautiful. Some grand villas, and huge yachts. Very picturesque. A highlight for me, when we were walking along the harbor, was seeing a very old man and woman eating a formal lunch in the back of their massive 5 decked yacht, complete with a butler standing by for their needs. You just don't see that kind of thing in Oregon.

Walk around, spend a hour or so, and it's well worth the visit.

Posted by
32171 posts

mp,

My opinion is much the same as Laurel mentioned. Portofino is beautiful but more "posh and upscale" than the Cinque Terre. I also think I paid too much for lunch, and the meal wasn't especially noteworthy. There's not a lot to do there unless you want to browse the pricey jewelry stores or have a look at the yachts and imagine the lifestyles of the rich & famous. However, there is Castello Brown up on the hill, which has some interesting exhibits at times (the hike up is relatively easy).

For an interesting look at Portofino, have a look at THIS video. They play the entire concert on PBS from time-to-time.

Posted by
388 posts

Portofino is a nice town but redundant if you are doing the Cinque Terre too. It is more posh and expensive but we think towns like Vernazza are every bit as pretty if not more so. I hope this helps some.

Posted by
118 posts

Thank you so much for the advice - I'm thinking we'll probably just stay put and really explore Cinque Terre!

Posted by
3696 posts

I don't think CT and Portofino are even close to the same ambience or feeling and the only thing they have in common for me is the Sea. I am not saying that you should visit everyplace that someone else says you should see, but your question was 'are they similar'? CT is much more rustic with lots of tourists and hikers, and Portofino is the 'other people'.:)) My first view of the Mediterranean was driving toward the sea with a full moon and seeing all those yachts in the harbor in Portofino... breathtaking...so I do have a bit of an attachment, however I have only been back once...yes, it is a bit pretentious, but will you regret being so close and not going? It is beautiful...also Santa Margarita is lovely and a little less pretentious. Just some thoughts in case you want to venture out while in CT.

Posted by
649 posts

Like some posters, was not really impressed with Portofino. Loved taking the boat from Vernazza down to Riomaggiore and taking the trail walk back to Vernazza. You could stop at one of the towns and have a lunch and IMHO probably much better than one in Portofino.

Posted by
3387 posts

I really like Portofino - walking up the paths through the olive groves and looking down on the crazy expensive yachts with sixteen kinds of bottled water perfectly arranged on mirrored trays is pretty fun to see. I also love taking a boat over to Santa Margherita to see the underwater Jesus and eat pasta overlooking the tiny blue bay.
Watch the movie Enchanted April before you go. Filmed at the pretty little castle overlooking Portofino. Great flick!

Posted by
1446 posts

We visited Portofino this past September but it was our second visit to the CT. On our first visit, we concentrated solely on the five CT towns and this past September, on our second visit to the CT, we branched out a little and visited Portofino, Portovenere and Camogli. We took the train to Camogli (from our base in Monterosso) early in the morning, walked around, had lunch in Camogli and then took a boat to Portofino, via a change of boats in San Fruottoso). We spent about 3-4 hours in Portofino and enjoyed it. We really enjoyed Camogli and Portofino and were glad we visited both towns however, like I said, this was our second visit to the CT and we were there for five days. In Portofino, we really liked the views from Castello Brown but my husband & I are really into photography and our goal was to get some nice pictures from that vantage point. If this is your first trip, I'd suggest skipping Portofino and perhaps save it for a return visit. It's a little bit of a "schlep" to get from the CT to Portofino as there are no direct boats or trains so you would spend the better part of a day away from the CT and you could easily just spend all 4 days in the CT towns themselves. Just my two cents! Have a great trip.