Portofino Food & Wine Tour

Suggested Tailored Wine Tour Itinerary

1. Genova - Recco – Camogli - Portofino

   

   Relax and Enjoy the Italian Riviera

   • 5* Ultra Luxury Hotel
   • Traditional lunch with paired wines
   • Private Chauffeured Mercedes

   Arrive at Genova airport and meet your private driver who will drive you into the historical center where with your art guide, you will enjoy a walking tour. Learn all about Genova’s ancient maritime legends and stories. Visit the graceful Palazzo Ducale and Royal Palace, the impressive Church of Saint Matteo, Christopher Columbus’s house, the Unesco Heritage site Rolli palaces, and the beautiful Dominican Santa Maria di Castello convent.

   Stop in Recco, where you will taste the famous local focaccia at a historic restaurant and then carry on to the little postcard-perfect village of Camogli. In the afternoon, transfer to Portofino, and check into your glamorous hotel, home to movie stars, and royalty. The rest of the day is yours to get settled in, relax, do some shopping (Portofino’s tiny Piazzetta is lined with designer boutiques and luxurious shops). Another option is to go for a refreshing walk to the marvelous San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte abbey (located in a beautiful carved inlet, and with a fascinating history as a pirates’ lair). In your sea-facing bedroom, you will find our welcome pack, with gifts, maps, and course a bottle of wine.

   We suggest you enjoy dinner tonight at your hotel’s candlelit terrace. Welcome to La Dolce Vita!

2. Portofino – Sestri Levante – Monterosso – Rapallo - Portofino

   

   Pesto show & Wine Tastings

   • 5* Ultra Luxury Hotel
   • Full breakfast, traditional lunch with wines
   • Private Chauffeured Mercedes

   Today you will meet some wines of Liguria Riviera di Levante. Start with a wine producer in Sestri Levante. After the tour of the wine cellar, you will taste a full range of white, rosè, and red wines, and you will have the chance to sample also Abissi, the sparkling wines whose second fermentation takes place under the sea, at 60 meters depth.

   Savor lunch in a traditional restaurant, hosted in the storehouse of Palazzo Federici, constructed in 1480. The family who owns and runs the restaurant has its fishing boat, and since the 1960s, many celebrities came here to taste the freshest fish ever, from Brigitte Bardot to Rod Stewart.

   Transfer to Monterosso, to Cinque Terre, where you will enjoy a visit and tasting at a local winery, producing Cinque Terre doc and Sciacchetrà (the most famous and rare wine in the area), olive oil, honey, and lemons. Visit the vineyards, the lemon gardens, and the tiny cellar.

   Next, you will have some free time to enjoy the gorgeous hamlet of Monterosso. On the way back to Portofino, you will stopover in Rapallo. Here while sipping local sparkling wine and nibbling on focaccia, you get to enjoy a “pesto show,” an exciting demonstration of how to prepare pesto sauce using a mortar and pestle.

   Once back to the hotel, enjoy a free evening. Try dinner at Da Puny, where the jet-setters relax and take in the views of the yachts.

3. Portofino - Portovenere – Cinque Terre - Castelnuovo Magra -Portofino

   

   Excursion to Portovenere & boat tour to Cinque Terre

   • 5* Ultra Luxury Hotel
   • Full breakfast, wine tasting, light lunch on board with wine
   • Private Chauffeured Mercedes

   This morning you will head south towards the delightful Golfo dei Poeti, or “Poet’s Gulf.” Do not forget the camera today! Visit medieval Portovenere, located right at the tip of the Peninsula that encloses this coastline. The surrounding area is full of colorful towns such as Tellaro, Lerici, and Fiascherino and enchanting tiny bays.

   From Portovenere, enjoy a private boat tour to Cinque Terre, admiring the world’s most scenic coastline! You will have a light lunch on board, including wine, of course, and stop in the sensational village of Vernazza.

   Next, head to Castelnuovo Magra and enjoy a visit and tasting at a beautiful winery that also has an impressive wine museum and herbs liqueurs production. The Colli di Luni appellation is famous for delicate and aromatic Vermentinos made from grapes grown on its gently rolling hills.

4. Portofino - Genova

   

   Private Cooking Class & End of Tour

   • None
   • Full breakfast, cooking class with lunch with wines
   • Private Chauffeured Mercedes

   This morning, with your chef, you will learn how to make Liguria’s most famous dishes- from focaccia to salsa di noci (creamy walnut sauce) to hand made trofie pasta. Sit down to lunch of your creations.

   This afternoon, at your preferred time, your chauffeured Mercedes will arrive to take you back to the airport in Genova. If you had more time available, we could propose a multitude of activities in Portofino, the Cinque Terre, and surrounding Riviera, or Northern Tuscany. Drop off at the airport. Arrivederci!