4 Best Sights in The Italian Riviera, Italy

Boat tours of the harbor, operated by the Consorzio Liguria Via Mare, launch from the aquarium pier and last about an hour. The tours include a visit to the breakwater outside the harbor, the Bacino delle Grazie, and the Molo Vecchio (Old Port). There are also daily excursions down the coast as far as Portofino and San Fruttuoso.

Albisola Marina has a centuries-old tradition of ceramics making. Numerous shops here sell the distinctive wares, and a whole sidewalk, Lungomare degli Artisti, which runs along the beachfront, has been transformed by the colorful ceramic works of well-known artists.

A boat tour (with Consorzio Liguria Via Mare, for example) gives you a good perspective on the layout of the harbor, which dates to Roman times. The Genoa inlet, the largest along the Italian Riviera, was also used by the Phoenicians and Greeks as a harbor and a staging area from which they could penetrate inland to form settlements and to trade. The port is guarded by the Diga Foranea, a striking 5-km-long (3-mile-long) wall built into the ocean. The Lanterna, a lighthouse more than 360 feet tall, was built in 1544; it's one of Italy's oldest lighthouses and a traditional emblem of Genoa.

A seven-stop commuter funicular begins at Piazza della Nunziata and ends at a high lookout on the fortified gates in the 17th-century city walls. Ringed around the circumference of the city are a number of huge fortresses; this gate was part of the city's system of defenses. From Righi you can undertake scenic all-day hikes from one fortress to the next.