Portofino has become synonymous with yachts, dizzying prices and a little square taken by storm: the fishing village still exists, but buried under the crowds. These alternatives offer the same Liguria of pastel houses, little harbours and beached boats, and other villages on the water where you can still hear the waves, not the motorboats.
Portofino in high season: → the alternatives below are far quieter.
Camogli and Boccadasse: two fishing harbours near Genoa, with pastel houses and beached boats, to experience authentic Liguria without the crush.
Not very crowded Jun 21, 2026
In a Ligurian bay reachable only on foot or by sea, the Abbey of San Fruttuoso, protected by the FAI, looks out over crystal-clear waters.
Not very crowded Jun 23, 2026
Instead of the Cinque Terre: Camogli, San Fruttuoso, Triora, Albenga and Genoa, colourful Ligurian villages without the crowds.
Very quiet Jun 29, 2026
Below Castel dell'Ovo, the fishermen's borgo and the vertical alleys of the Pallonetto di Santa Lucia: the Naples you explore on foot, a step from the seafront.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026
On the Gulf of Corinth, Nafpaktos is a fortified Venetian harbour with walls that run down to the sea: quiet Greece with no queues.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026
A Byzantine fortress on an islet off the Peloponnese: Monemvasia stays invisible until you round the final bend, into a maze of stone alleys.
Very quiet Jun 21, 2026