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A Tourist's Guide to Genoa

Museums and Galleries in Italy's Capital of Culture

Sep 6, 2008 Owain Mckimm

Genoa is Italy's gateway to the Mediterranean and boasts one of the largest historical centres in Europe. Art is everywhere, from church facades to hidden doorways.

A tourist's day in Genoa begins with a museum; which one is unimportant. The city is so filled with historical exhibits, galleries and beautiful churches that choosing to visit one is rarely an option, more a frequent, perambulatory occurrence. Indeed it is more of a challenge to go to Genoa and not be assailed by renaissance splendour, and it is no surprise that the city was voted European Capital of Culture in 2004. To differentiate among this buffet of cultural plenty on grounds of quality is useless as all admirably provide aesthetic satisfaction; a few starting points however are:

The Museum of Oriental Art

The Museum of Oriental Art (Piazzale Mazzini 1) provides an incongruous relief from the western art of the Old Masters, frescoes and flawless sculptures. This strange eastern pocket is found on top of a hilly garden whose dense trees provide welcome shade from the summer heat.

The Aquarium

The Aquarium (Ponte Spinola) in the Old Port is an absolute must see. Exquisitely presented exhibitions will keep you interested for hours. It even provides a hands-on experience with tactile pools where you can reach out and pet rays as they swim by or simply bask in the shallows. Look out for the sharks, giant turtles and luminous showers of floating jellyfish.

Palazzo Rosso

Palazzo Rosso (Via Garibaldi 18) - part of the Musei di Strada Nuova (a triumvirate of museums including the Palazzo Bianco and the Palazzo Doria-Tursi) - has an amazing rooftop view of the city revealing crooked chimney pots and hidden rooftop gardens – not to mention an eclectic fusion of modern art and ancient, frescoed rooms whose domed ceilings are a volta of Greco-mythological representations from the seventeenth century, accompanied by several portraits from the Flemish Baroque artist Van Dyke.

The Genova-Casella Railway

For a day trip outside the city walls take the train to Casella – a town in the mountains which provides spectacular views of the Ligurian landscape. The train journey itself however is the real attraction and involves a rickety old train full of day-tripping Italians trundling up a narrow, winding mountain track with views of Genoa’s old forts, cloven valleys and sun-beaten hill-tops.

Casella itself is a little uneventful but you can spend a pleasingly forgettable day there, basking in the shade of some empty piazza. The train goes from the Stazione Genova (well signposted from the summit of Via Assarotti) every hour and a half or so and costs 2€ each way.

Food

Click here to read about Genoa's delicious food with tips on where to eat.

The copyright of the article A Tourist's Guide to Genoa in S Europe Travel is owned by Owain Mckimm. Permission to republish A Tourist's Guide to Genoa in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.