The sea entrance
Genoa → Portofino by ferry
The seasonal coastal boat from Genoa's Porto Antico, past San Fruttuoso, into the harbour. Sit on the open deck, sea side.
Portofino & Monaco
The Riviera Transit: Milan, Portofino & Monaco
6 min read4 daysSummer / Early AutumnRefined paceCoastal & Superyacht
From the journal
Sotirios
Founder, WithBikio
From Milan's neoclassical pace to Portofino's sea entrance and Monaco's high corniche. Finished with a rotor-blade descent into Nice.
This is a journey best understood as a sequence of arrivals. Begin in Milan, where the pace is neoclassical and the coffee is taken standing. Then the train south to Genoa — under two hours — and the city drops away into the Ligurian Sea.
Do not drive into Portofino. From Genoa's harbour, the seasonal coastal ferry follows the Golfo Paradiso and rounds the headland into the piazzetta from the water, the only entrance the village was ever designed for. Arrive this way once and the road will feel like a back door.
From the Ligurian coast the regional rail carries you west along the water into Monaco. And when it is time to leave, skip the corniche traffic: the Monacair helicopter from the Monaco Heliport reaches Nice Côte d'Azur Airport in roughly seven minutes, low over the bay, the whole Riviera unfolding beneath the rotor.
Curated highlights
The three things worth the detour.
The view that matters
La Turbie, above the harbour
Monaco laid out below you from the Roman trophy town on the ridge. Go at golden hour; the harbour is better from here than beside it.
The departure
Monacair, Monaco Heliport → Nice Airport
A seven-minute rotor-blade transfer along the coast, timed to your flight. The most elegant exit on the Riviera.
Day-by-day blueprint
A rhythm, not a schedule.
A morning in Brera, lunch near the Duomo, then the afternoon train to Genoa. Dinner in the caruggi, the old alleys above the port.
Bespoke planning