8 Days on the Italian Riviera

After you arrive in Genoa, your private guide will meet you and escort you into the city to begin your time on the Italian Riviera. Genoa has a very different feel from many of Italy’s better-known destinations, with narrow alleyways, old port buildings, local cafés, and a historic center that still feels tied to everyday life rather than tourism. 

After checking into your accommodation, begin exploring the old town on foot. Walk through tight stone streets lined with bakeries, small food shops, churches, and hidden squares before reaching Porto Antico, the city’s old harbor area. Along the waterfront, fishing boats sit beside marinas and seafood restaurants overlooking the sea.

Spend the rest of the afternoon walking through the center at a relaxed pace, with time to stop for coffee or local focaccia along the way. In the evening, enjoy your first dinner on the Riviera at a local restaurant, with Ligurian dishes such as pesto pasta or fresh seafood.

Leave Genoa behind and follow the coastline east toward the Riviera towns around Portofino. The roads here curve around the sea, passing beaches, marinas, hillside villas, and small villages overlooking the water.

Your first stop is Santa Margherita Ligure, a quiet town along the Riviera coast with cafés facing the water, palm trees along the promenade, and colorful buildings gathered around the harbor. Spend some time walking beside the sea before continuing onward to nearby Portofino. 

Portofino remains one of the best-known towns on the Riviera, though the village itself is surprisingly small once you arrive. The harbor is surrounded by pastel buildings and fishing boats, with steep green hills rising behind the waterfront. Spend the afternoon exploring the narrow lanes, harbor edge, and viewpoints before returning along the coast later in the day.

Today is spent exploring the Cinque Terre, a section of coastline made up of five small villages built directly into the cliffs above the sea.

Start the day in Monterosso al Mare, the largest of the Cinque Terre villages, where the coastline opens up into beaches, small waterfront restaurants, and older streets behind the seafront. Fishing boats sit along the harbor while cafés and shops spread through the center of the village.

Continue to Vernazza, one of the best-known and most photographed villages in Cinque Terre. The village sits around a small harbor with restaurants and cafés facing the water, while steep hills and walking paths rise behind the town. Spend time exploring the narrow streets, walking along the harbor, and stopping for lunch beside the sea before continuing further along the coastline. 

Later, head to Manarola, a hillside village built directly into the cliffs above the Mediterranean. Vineyards cover the surrounding slopes, while walking paths and viewpoints look back across the coastline and out toward the open water.

Throughout the day, your guide helps manage transportation and timing between the villages, making the experience much easier than navigating the area independently during busy periods.

Continue south along the Ligurian coast toward Portovenere, located beside the Gulf of Poets. Compared with the busier Cinque Terre villages, Portovenere feels calmer, with a slower pace and fewer crowds around the harbor.

Walk through the waterfront area with your guide, passing colorful buildings, fishing boats, seafood restaurants, and small side streets leading uphill through the town. Continue toward the Church of St Peter, which sits directly above the sea on a rocky point, offering wide views back across the coastline.

Spend the afternoon with your private guide exploring the harbor area, with time to stop for lunch at one of the seafood restaurants facing the water or walk along the waterfront paths around the town. Your guide can adjust the afternoon depending on your interests, whether you’d prefer more time by the sea, quiet walking routes, or time to sit at a café overlooking the harbor. 

On day 5, you’ll depart the Riviera for an exciting day trip to northern Tuscany. The beautiful coastal scenery you have become accustomed to is replaced by vineyards, olive groves, and rolling countryside. 

Arrive in Lucca, a smaller Tuscan city surrounded by Renaissance walls that still fully circle the historic center. Explore the old streets on foot with your guide, passing churches, bakeries, quiet squares, and local cafés before reaching Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, built inside the remains of an ancient Roman amphitheater.

Compared with the coastal towns visited earlier in the trip, Lucca feels slower and more residential. After time in the city, continue through the Tuscan countryside, with scenic drives between small villages and vineyard landscapes, before returning toward the coast later in the day.

Begin the morning in Pisa with your private guide taking you into Piazza dei Miracoli, home to the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. Spend time seeing the tower up close and taking photos from around the square before visiting the cathedral and baptistery beside it. 

Spend time exploring the area with your guide before continuing toward Livorno on the Tuscan coast. Livorno feels different from the smaller Riviera villages, with ferry ports, canals, seafood restaurants, and long waterfront promenades overlooking the sea.

The afternoon is left fairly relaxed, allowing time to enjoy lunch by the harbor or walk along the waterfront before returning to your accommodation. In the evening, enjoy another dinner along the coast with fresh seafood and local Tuscan wines.

Today, your private guide takes you along the western Riviera coastline toward Sanremo. The drive follows the sea for much of the route, passing beach towns, marinas, waterfront cafés, and smaller coastal villages before arriving in Sanremo later in the day. 

After arriving in Sanremo, explore the historic center with your guide. The older part of town climbs uphill through narrow passageways and stone streets before opening back out toward the waterfront and marina.

Spend the afternoon walking along the promenade or stopping at cafés beside the sea. Compared with Portofino or Cinque Terre, Sanremo feels more spacious and residential, giving a different side of Riviera life before your final full evening in Liguria.

On your final day, your private guide takes you along the Ligurian coastline toward Finale Ligure. 

Spend time walking through the old streets and along the waterfront before stopping for a final lunch beside the sea. This stretch of coastline combines many of the landscapes seen throughout the trip, including marinas, beaches, fishing villages, and cliffside roads overlooking the Mediterranean.

After time in Finale Ligure, your private guide will transfer you to your departure airport or onward destination, bringing your Italian Riviera journey to a close.