A Genoa city guide

Genoa — nicknamed "la Superba", "the proud one" — is squeezed between the Ligurian Sea and the mountains behind it, its historic centre one of the largest and best-preserved in Europe. This is a short guide to the parts of the city closest to Piazza San Lorenzo and Locanda di Palazzo Cicala, drawn from the property's own archived visitor-guide pages.

The old town and Piazza San Lorenzo

The historic centre radiates out from Piazza San Lorenzo and its cathedral, a warren of narrow pedestrian streets (caruggi) and small piazzas that also form Genoa's main shopping district. From the cathedral it's a short walk to Palazzo Ducale and Piazza De Ferrari — Genoa's central square, with its distinctive fountain — and on to the Teatro Carlo Felice opera house. The same streets concentrate the city's main theatres, cinemas and nightlife.

Via Garibaldi and the Rolli palazzi

A short walk from the cathedral, Via Garibaldi — also known by its historic name "Strada Nuova" ("New Street") — is a UNESCO World Heritage street lined with 16th-century palazzi built for Genoa's merchant-banking families. Many were part of the city's official "Rolli" system, under which noble houses were listed to host visiting heads of state and dignitaries during the Genoese Republic. Several now house the city's main art museums. See our landmarks guide for more on specific buildings along the street.

Porto Antico, the old harbour

Genoa's old port, Porto Antico, was substantially redeveloped in 1992 for the "Colombiadi" celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage. Today the harbour area is home to the Genoa Aquarium (among the largest in Europe), the Galata Museo del Mare (Museum of the Sea), the Bigo panoramic lift, and a scenic waterfront walk toward the Lanterna, the lighthouse that has long served as the city's symbol. It sits an easy walk from the old town.

Fabrizio De André and Genoese culture

The singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, one of Italy's most celebrated cantautori, is closely associated with Genoa's old town, whose streets and characters shaped much of his work — the archived pages reference him as emblematic of the area's atmosphere. Palazzo Ducale has, at various points, hosted exhibitions dedicated to him.

Ligurian food and drink

Ligurian cooking is built around the region's basil, olive oil and chickpea flour rather than the tomato-and-meat traditions found further south in Italy. The best-known dish is pesto alla Genovese, a raw sauce of basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano (or Grana Padano) and pecorino, worked with olive oil into a paste — traditionally by hand, in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle, which is where the name comes from ("pesto" derives from the Italian verb pestare, "to pound" or "to crush"). It's classically tossed with trofie, a short, twisted fresh pasta associated with the towns of Recco and Sori near Genoa, often served with boiled potatoes and green beans cooked in the same pot. Another Genoese staple is farinata, a thin, crisp flatbread made from chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt and baked in a very hot oven — simple, inexpensive food that has been sold across the old town for generations. And a visit to the city usually includes focaccia genovese, the soft, olive-oil-dimpled bread whose recipe has been made in Genoa since at least the Middle Ages and whose name is now a protected collective trademark.

Nervi, the eastern seafront

Further along the coast from the old town, in the easternmost part of the city, Nervi is a former fishing village that became a district of Genoa in 1926, after several centuries as a favoured retreat for Genoese noble and bourgeois families, who built villas and gardens along its clifftops. Its best-known feature is the Passeggiata Anita Garibaldi, a seafront promenade of around two kilometres built into the rock, reportedly commissioned by the Marquis Gaetano Gropallo and completed in the 1870s, and closed to traffic since 1959. It's some distance from the old town and Palazzo Cicala and isn't covered in detail on this site, but it's worth knowing about for a longer stay in Genoa.