Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Train -- Two or three coastal trains per hour connect Santa Margherita with Genoa (regional: 35 min.; high-speed: 25 min.), Camogli (5 min.), Rapallo (3 min.), and Monterosso (regional: 55 min.; high-speed: 40 min.) of the Cinque Terre.

By Bus -- There is at least one Tigullio (tel. 0185-288-834; www.tigulliotrasporti.it) bus an hour to Camogli (30-35 min.) and to Rapallo (10 min.), leaving from Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Buses also ply the stunningly beautiful coast road to Portofino, leaving every 20 minutes from the train station and Piazza Vittorio Veneto (25 min.).

By Boat -- Tigullio ferries (tel. 0185-284-670; www.traghettiportofino.it) make hourly trips to Portofino (15 min.) and Rapallo (15 min.). In summer, there is a boat about 4 days a week to Vernazza in the Cinque Terre. Hours of service vary considerably with season; schedules are posted on the docks at Piazza Martiri della Liberta.

By Car -- The fastest route into the region is the A12 Autostrada from Genoa; the trip takes about half an hour. Route S1 along the coast from Genoa is much slower but more scenic.

Visitor Information

The tourist office is near the harbor at Via XXV Aprile 2B (tel. 0185-287-485; fax 0185-283-034; www.apttigullio.liguria.it). Summer hours are daily 9am to 12:30pm and 3 to 6pm; winter hours are Monday to Saturday 9am to 12:30pm and 2:30 to 5:30pm.

Festivals & Markets

Santa Margherita's winters are delightfully mild, but even so, the town rushes to usher in spring with a Festa di Primavera, held on moveable dates in February. Like the Sagra del Pesce in neighboring Camogli, this festival also features food -- in this case fritters are prepared on the beach and served around roaring bonfires. One of the more interesting daily spectacles in town is the fish market on Lungomare Marconi; this colorful event takes place from 8am to 12:30pm. On Fridays cars are banned from Corso Matteotti, Santa Margherita's major street for food shopping, turning the area into an open-air food market.