Camogli, Italy….on the Italian Riviera

One last shot of us at our place in Milan just before we left to head towards the train station.  That view of the Duomo never gets old.

The train from Milan to Camogli was just over 2 hours, and again there were constant messages about wearing your mask.  Dispite that, I kept mine hanging off my ear most of the trip.  The train was maybe half full, and several seats had signs on them indicating they were supposed to remain free for social distancing.  Of course, everybody on that train had to be vaccinated or a show proof of a negative test….so where is the science??  Ugh.

Camogli was a little hotter and more humid than expected, but our hotel was only 200 yards (meters?) from the train station.  The hotel we are staying at, Sublimis Boutique Hotel, is just beautiful, and everything is very modern, and the air conditioning works great, which is perhaps the most important aspect of a hotel to us!  This hotel just opened in June of this year, so it wasn’t listed on Tripadvisor when I was looking to book…I just happened upon it, and I’m sure glad I did!  I just checked now, and they finally have some listings (all 5 stars), which I intend to add to.  Here is the view from our balcony.

In the photos below, keep in mind this is our own private balcony!  Stunning!  This would be a perfect spot for a honeymoon, or for just indulging your wife because she’s a super awesome person.  Well, we ain’t on our honeymoon!

We had our first dinner at Ostaia da O Sigu, which was pretty good.  The view is excellent.

The next day we took a hike to San Frutuosso Bay, which is a beautiful spot a little more than 5 miles from Camogli through the Portofino National Park.   The trail is marked with little red circles, and the starting point with two red circles.

The signage was excellent.  You cannot get lost if you can read!  There were beautiful views along the way.  This is from San Rocco looking back towards Camogli.

This shot is looking towards Punta Chiappa, a popular spot for sunbathers.

The first part of this hike was tough, with at least 800 steps and steep walkways.  You end up in San Rocco, where we bought some cold water, and then continued on…up up up….and then entered a forested area which was quite nice to hike through, as it was mostly shady.

The last 1.5 miles are steep downhill switchbacks on rocky trails.  This is not the easiest hike we’ve ever done!  I saw this little guy on the way down.  We saw a lot of lizards and several snakes along the trail.

At the end of the trail you are rewarded with the beautiful San Frutuosso Bay.

We had lunch at Da Giorgio, which is right on the edge of the water.  Very cool spot with really excellent food that I highly recommend!  Here is a view from the other side of the very small bay.

The lunch was superb!

This Vermentino was one of the best I have ever had, and I’ve had a lot of them!  The winery ownership is apparently a British Royal who likes to vacation in Portofino.

I’m a cat person, and cat’s know this.  The restaurant cat, Molly, came over to see if I had any spare seafood.  I gave her a few tastes.

The view from the restaurant.  Italians love laying on rocks.  There is actually a fee to lay on this beach.  The mafia truly is everywhere.

The ferry ride back to Camogli was 10 euros each.  Much better than taking that hike back!!  Beautiful views abound.

There are several WWII bunkers along the coastline.  You can hike to these but apparently it’s a pretty dangerous hike, involiving hanging onto chains to span vertical drop-offs.  We passed.  If you visit you really need to take the ferry to see the beauty of this spot from another perspective.

One last shot of the Camogli promenade.

Next up, Portofino and Rapallo.