Genoa doesn’t get the same tourist attention as Florence or Venice, which is precisely part of its appeal. This former maritime republic, birthplace of Christopher Columbus and once one of the wealthiest trading powers in the Mediterranean, hides one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved medieval old towns behind an unassuming modern port city facade, along with palaces built by merchant families whose wealth once rivaled royalty.

What to See and Do

Get Lost in the Caruggi

Genoa’s old town is a dense maze of narrow medieval alleys, known locally as caruggi, some barely wide enough for two people to pass, lined with hidden churches, tiny focacceria bakeries and centuries-old shopfronts. It’s one of the largest surviving medieval urban centers in Europe and genuinely rewarding to wander without a fixed plan.

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Walk Via Garibaldi’s Palaces

This UNESCO-listed street is lined with Renaissance and Baroque palaces built by Genoa’s wealthiest merchant families, several now open as museums, including the Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco, with frescoed ceilings and art collections that reflect the city’s former financial power.

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Visit the Aquarium of Genoa

One of the largest aquariums in Europe, it sits right on the historic harbor and covers marine ecosystems from the Mediterranean to tropical reefs, making it a popular stop for families and a reflection of the city’s deep maritime identity.

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See the Cathedral of San Lorenzo

Genoa’s striped black-and-white marble cathedral holds a treasury said to include relics linked to St. John the Baptist, along with an unexploded British naval shell from World War II left embedded in a side chapel as a reminder of the city’s wartime history.

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Eat Real Pesto and Focaccia

Genoa is the birthplace of pesto alla genovese, and the city’s countless small bakeries sell fresh-baked focaccia al formaggio and farinata straight from the oven, both genuinely local specialties worth seeking out over more generic Italian fare.

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Best Time to Visit

Spring and early autumn bring comfortable walking weather for the old town’s alleys and hilly outskirts, while summer can be humid given the port setting. The city stays lively year-round without the seasonal tourist swings of Italy’s more famous destinations.

How to Get There

Genoa has its own airport and is well connected by train to Milan, roughly ninety minutes away, and to the Cinque Terre villages further down the coast, making it a practical base or stopover for exploring Liguria. The old town and harbor are both easily walkable from the main train stations.

Good to Know

The caruggi’s narrow alleys can be genuinely disorienting, so a rough mental map or offline map app helps more here than in most Italian cities. Genoa works well as a day trip from the Cinque Terre or Milan, but it has enough depth to justify a full one or two-day stay of its own.

Genoa rewards curiosity more than a checklist. Between its palaces, its maze of alleys and food that rarely disappoints, it’s one of Italy’s most underrated cities for travelers willing to wander off the main tourist track.