Scenarios and venues in Portofino
Meeting formats and venues we work with: five-star hotels in the centre, signature restaurants, theatres, private spaces.
Aperitivo on the Piazzetta and dinner by the water
The basic Portofino evening, and our most frequent scenario. At half past six the day-trip boats leave, the square empties, the sun drops behind the headland — and the aperitivo starts at La Gritta, looking out at the moored yachts. Around half past eight, dinner: Puny right on the square if you want the local kitchen, or O Magazin on the quay if you want a table almost on the water. Afterwards, twenty minutes along the harbour and back. The format fits into four hours; two hours holds the dinner and nothing else.
La Gritta American Bar
Calata Marconi, Portofino
An old bar on a floating platform by the quay, looking straight out at the moored yachts. Classic cocktails, shade, water underfoot. The canonical spot for an aperitivo between six and eight, before heading to dinner.
Ristorante Puny
Piazza Martiri dell'Olivetta, Portofino
A place on the Piazzetta itself, running for decades and long since a local classic. Tight, homely, Ligurian cooking without ceremony: pasta with pesto, fish baked in a salt crust. People come for the food and the atmosphere of the square, …
O Magazin
Calata Marconi, Portofino
A fish restaurant on the quay, tables almost on the water, next to the mooring bollards. Simpler than the hotel format: seafood, local fish, white Ligurian wine. A good choice for an evening when you want a view of the yachts rather than of…
Tip:
Ask for the Puny table well ahead: the room is small, and in August it goes a week out. Shoes on a stable heel — the cobbles on the square and the climbs will notice.
An evening at Splendido: terrace and dinner above the bay
The most formal evening in Portofino. Up Viale Baratta by shuttle or taxi, a glass on the Splendido terrace at sunset with the whole bay lit below, then dinner at La Terrazza with no hurry. Quiet audience, slow pace, long conversation — this isn't a two-hour scenario, it's four and up. Back down to Splendido Mare and the Piazzetta by shuttle, or on foot if the shoes allow.
Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino
Viale Baratta 16, Portofino
A sixteenth-century former monastery on the slope above the bay, a hotel since the early twentieth century and Portofino's principal address. Panoramic pool, park, and La Terrazza with the most postcard-perfect view of the village. Runs sea…
La Terrazza, Splendido
Viale Baratta 16, Portofino
The Splendido hotel restaurant, on the terrace above the bay. This is the view that puts Portofino on covers: the village, the harbour and the headland seen from the height of the slope. The audience is calm, the pace of dinner slow, and an…
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel
Via Roma 2, Portofino
A small hotel right by the Piazzetta, two steps from the quay, fully renovated in 2022. Few rooms, and inside are DaV Mare and Chuflay. This is the most convenient address in the village when the evening is short: door to table and table to…
Tip:
Jacket for men, a long or cocktail dress for your companion. Check with the hotel in advance whether the shuttle runs at the hour you need — walking down the hill after dinner is easier than walking up before it.
An evening on a yacht in the bay of Portofino
The summer format the vessels come here for. The companion arrives at the quay and boards at the crew's invitation, or is collected by tender from a point we fix in advance. After that it's an evening on board at anchor in the bay, or a short run along the headland at sunset, or a combination: aperitivo ashore at Chuflay or La Gritta, then the tender out to the boat.
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel
Via Roma 2, Portofino
A small hotel right by the Piazzetta, two steps from the quay, fully renovated in 2022. Few rooms, and inside are DaV Mare and Chuflay. This is the most convenient address in the village when the evening is short: door to table and table to…
Chuflay, Splendido Mare
Via Roma 2, Portofino
The restaurant and bar of Splendido Mare, at square level, with a terrace by the water. A lighter format than La Terrazza: aperitivo, a light dinner, a late glass. A convenient place to start the evening if a yacht or a walk to the lighthou…
La Gritta American Bar
Calata Marconi, Portofino
An old bar on a floating platform by the quay, looking straight out at the moored yachts. Classic cocktails, shade, water underfoot. The canonical spot for an aperitivo between six and eight, before heading to dinner.
Tip:
Flat soles are non-negotiable — nobody walks on teak in heels. The vessel's name, the tender pick-up point and the contact for the captain or chief stewardess are agreed before the meeting: without them we don't take the scenario on the water.
A day in Paraggi: beach and lunch by the water
A daytime programme from June to September. Paraggi is the only sandy beach in the area, a kilometre and a half from the village, the water turquoise because the seabed is pale. Beach club, swimming, lunch at Langosteria Paraggi with the raw seafood, then back to Portofino for the evening aperitivo. The natural format is four hours and up; two won't even cover the drive and lunch.
Langosteria Paraggi
Via Paraggi a Mare, Paraggi
The seasonal project of Milan's Langosteria in the cove at Paraggi, a kilometre and a half from Portofino. Fish and raw seafood, lunch by the water, a crowd off the yachts and out of the beach clubs. In summer it's the main daytime address …
Eight Hotel Portofino
Via del Fondaco, Portofino
An intimate hotel in an alley above the Piazzetta, a couple of minutes' walk from the square. Calmer and noticeably more affordable than the Belmond addresses, while still inside the village itself — which in Portofino is the main advantage…
Splendido Mare, A Belmond Hotel
Via Roma 2, Portofino
A small hotel right by the Piazzetta, two steps from the quay, fully renovated in 2022. Few rooms, and inside are DaV Mare and Chuflay. This is the most convenient address in the village when the evening is short: door to table and table to…
Tip:
Bring a change of dress for lunch — nobody sits down at Langosteria in a wet swimsuit. The hop from the village is short, but the road stands still in summer, so leave a margin.
Base in Santa Margherita, evening in Portofino
The most practical arrangement for July and August, when the village itself has neither rooms nor parking. You stay in Santa Margherita — Grand Hotel Miramare on the seafront or Imperiale Palace on the slope — meet there, and come into Portofino for the evening: about fifteen minutes by boat, or ten to fifteen by taxi along the coast road. Dinner at DaV Mare by the water, back by car.
Grand Hotel Miramare
Via Milite Ignoto 30, Santa Margherita Ligure
An early twentieth-century hotel on the Santa Margherita seafront, with a park, a pool and a view over the Gulf of Tigullio. Its season runs longer than the Portofino hotels', it holds more guests, and it solves the parking problem. From he…
Imperiale Palace Hotel
Via Pagana 19, Santa Margherita Ligure
A late nineteenth-century building on the slope above the sea, with terraces and a park. The Treaty of Rapallo was signed here in 1922 — a rare case of a Riviera hotel with a line in the textbooks. Quieter than the seafront, with a calm cli…
DaV Mare
Via Roma 2 (Splendido Mare), Portofino
The restaurant of the Cerea family — the family behind Da Vittorio — opened inside Splendido Mare in 2022. Ligurian and Mediterranean cooking, fish, pasta, and a terrace a few metres from the water. One of the two or three addresses in the …
Tip:
The evening boat sailings finish before dinner does, so the return transfer is booked straight away, at the agreement stage. This is where the scenario most often breaks for people planning it themselves.
A trip along the Riviera: Camogli, San Fruttuoso, the Cinque Terre
A day or twenty-four-hour format outside the village. Camogli with the private beach at Cenobio dei Dogi and the boat to the abbey of San Fruttuoso, which has no road to it. Rapallo with Excelsior Palace on the headland. The Cinque Terre about an hour away — five villages above the sea, a full day's programme. All of it agreed a day ahead at minimum, a week at peak.
Cenobio dei Dogi
Via Nicolò Cuneo 34, Camogli
A hotel above the sea in Camogli, with a private beach and a terrace, running since the middle of the last century. Camogli is a fishing town on the other side of the headland, quieter than Portofino and Santa Margherita. Boats leave from h…
Excelsior Palace Hotel Portofino Coast
Via San Michele di Pagana 8, Rapallo
A large hotel on the headland between Rapallo and Santa Margherita, with views over the Gulf of Tigullio from both sides. The key difference from every other address on this list — it's open all year, which is why in the winter months it be…
Grand Hotel Miramare
Via Milite Ignoto 30, Santa Margherita Ligure
An early twentieth-century hotel on the Santa Margherita seafront, with a park, a pool and a view over the Gulf of Tigullio. Its season runs longer than the Portofino hotels', it holds more guests, and it solves the parking problem. From he…
Tip:
Trips beyond the Tigullio coast are priced on request, together with the road and the travel time. For San Fruttuoso check the boat timetable: in a swell the sailings are cancelled, and there's no backup route there.
The lighthouse path and sunset over the headland
The shortest and prettiest walk in Portofino. Up from the Piazzetta past the church of San Giorgio and Castello Brown, then along the paved path to the lighthouse at Punta del Capo — twenty to twenty-five minutes at an unhurried pace, with the open sea in view. A glass at the lighthouse at sunset, back down in the dark along the lit path, and on to an aperitivo at La Gritta or straight to dinner at DaV Mare.
Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino
Viale Baratta 16, Portofino
A sixteenth-century former monastery on the slope above the bay, a hotel since the early twentieth century and Portofino's principal address. Panoramic pool, park, and La Terrazza with the most postcard-perfect view of the village. Runs sea…
La Gritta American Bar
Calata Marconi, Portofino
An old bar on a floating platform by the quay, looking straight out at the moored yachts. Classic cocktails, shade, water underfoot. The canonical spot for an aperitivo between six and eight, before heading to dinner.
DaV Mare
Via Roma 2 (Splendido Mare), Portofino
The restaurant of the Cerea family — the family behind Da Vittorio — opened inside Splendido Mare in 2022. Ligurian and Mediterranean cooking, fish, pasta, and a terrace a few metres from the water. One of the two or three addresses in the …
Tip:
Comfortable shoes only: the path is paved, but it slopes and has steps. Set off an hour before sunset and take a light wrap — it's windy on the headland even in August.