Things to do in Genoa

Genoa was a maritime republic that once rivalled Venice. It still faces the sea rather than performing for it. Behind the port, the old centre is one of the largest medieval quarters still standing in Europe.

Locals call it the caruggi. Some alleys run narrower than a car, and the light barely gets in.

The caruggi and the port

Wealthy trading families built the caruggi between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. Houses went up packed tight, built for defence rather than comfort. The layout has barely changed since.

Grand palazzi still appear without warning behind plain doors. It is the same merchant money, just spent on stone instead of show.

The Porto Antico, the old harbour, sat fenced off and derelict for decades. Renzo Piano rebuilt it for the 1992 Columbus anniversary. His Aquarium, added then, is now the largest in Italy.

Columbus and the table

• Columbus's house. An eighteenth-century rebuild of the house he is said to have grown up in, set against a stretch of the old city wall.
• Pesto and focaccia. Both are Genoese by origin, sold from bakery counters rather than plated in restaurants; farinata, a chickpea flatbread, is the third local staple.
• Day trips out. The Cinque Terre and the rest of the Riviera lie within a couple of hours; Genoa works more often as the transfer point than the destination for them.

Practical

• Getting lost. The caruggi carry no tourist signage. Treat that as the point, not a problem.
• Weather. Winter days stay near 12C; summer reaches about 28C, humid, with the hills trapping the August heat.
• Food. Focaccia by weight from a bakery counter is the local breakfast, not a snack.
• Aquarium hours. Book ahead in summer. It is the single most visited site in the city and queues build fast.
• Driving. Steep, narrow streets make the old town impractical by car; park near the port and walk in.