Thursday, June 6, 2013

Portofino to San Fruttuoso by boat and back by foot.

One of the things about Italy which continues to amaze me is the extraordinary beauty that exists in the pensiular and much of it close by to us at Casa Colleverde.

Today with a day free and good weather forecast we decided to visit Portofino and the Abbazia San Fruttuoso in the Portofino Natural Park which can only be got to by foot or boat.We wanted to arrive by boat and walk back to Portofino.

To avoid the expensive car parks in Portofino (if there is a space) we decided to drive to Santa Margherita Ligure, park there and get the ferry to Portofino. We got the 10.15 boat having left home at 8.35.  The cost was 10 euro a head one way to San Fruttuoso , Sam was free.
Santa Margherita Ligure

Arriving at Portofino by boat is lovely as the port is very picturesque.We remained on the boat and continued on to San Fruttuoso.


 The coast line is beautiful and the water a deep blue green colour which makes you want to dive in to cool off.






Portofino harbour


The bay where the Abbey is situated is lovely. You could go there for lunch ( there are 2/3 bar restuarants) and then get a later boat back if you wanted just to have a relaxing lunch in a beautiful setting.We had packed a picnic so after a brief look around started our walk


San Fruttuoso



Like lots of walks along the coast in Liguria and the 5 Terre you have to start with a bit of a climb up the hill (here through the woods in the shade which was just as well as it was warm) this got us warmed up and a little out of breath but with regular photo opportunities giving an excuse to stop and get our breath we did it and once at the top the walk along the cliffs was relatively easy.


Path above San Fruttuoso
Fantastic views from the path on the way and after about an hour and a half we arrived at our destination.










Portofino

                                                                      Che spectacolo!