Rapallo
Rapallo is a larger, more workaday seaside town than its glamorous neighbor Portofino, and that's largely its appeal: a real town with a proper promenade, a small castle on the water, and reasonably priced hotels and restaurants, used by many travelers as an affordable base for exploring the more expensive parts of the Ligurian coast by ferry or train. It lacks Portofino's cachet or Cinque Terre's dramatic cliffside scenery, but it's comfortable, well-connected, and less overrun, with its own pleasant old town and waterfront castle worth a stroll.
Rapallo FAQs
It's a sensible, more affordable base for the area, with good train and ferry connections, even though it has less inherent charm than Portofino or Santa Margherita Ligure.
Ferries run regularly in season and are the most pleasant option; a bus via Santa Margherita Ligure also works and is cheaper.
It's on the same coastal train line, so yes, though Cinque Terre towns themselves or La Spezia are more central bases if that's your main focus.
Walk the seafront promenade, visit the small castle on the water, and take the cable car up to the Montallegro sanctuary for a view over the gulf; it's a relaxed rather than sight-dense stop.
Less so than Portofino or the Cinque Terre villages, since it's a bigger town with more everyday infrastructure and doesn't rely solely on tourism.
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