Camogli is on the west coast of Italy between Genova and Cinque Terre referred to as the Italian Riviera or Riviera Liguria.

Unlike the Cinque Terre or nearby Portofino, Camogli is a secret that Italians have kept to themselves. It’s the summer retreat of discreetly well-heeled Milanese and Turinese, whose families have returned for generations to get their annual dose of sunshine and pesto. 

It’s one of the most beautiful towns in an Italian region with a roster of villages and hamlets known for their wow factor. 

These are the reasons I decided last summer Zoe and I would spend our July holiday here. 

We arrived on Sunday and the picture above is what greeted us. This is not exactly what I had in mind but I’ve been told it is much different during the week.

And they were right. This was the type of holiday I was wanting.

This is a fishing village and I had read that you could get fabulous pesce fritto (fried fish) right off the fisherman’s boat. That was my mission for our first day.

 

We had no big plans for this trip other than relaxing and enjoying the scenery and do some people watching  

Walking into town there is this giant frying pan celebrating Camoglis yearly fish festival. Founded in 1952 by twenty local fisherman, It is famous for its fried fish and this maxi pan used during the event.The Feast of San Fortunato, patron saint of fisherman takes place the night before the fish festival.  In this seaside village, around this weekend, about 100 thousand tourists and visitors are expected.No I do not plan to attend this event, not with that many people. All proceeds are donated to our he Camogli Fisherman’s Cooperative, which supports the Slow Food practice of tonnara fishing.

When looking for a place to stay my top priority was an outdoor space. A nice spot to enjoy the outdoors without leaving the apartment.The place I found was on a family property with 2 big houses and a tiny studio apartment that they rent out .

 

The yard we had all to ourselves since the owners are only there on weekends. This was heaven for Zoe.

The only negative about this place is it was very high up and to get to the village you had 3 options. Walking down 100’s of stairs, a bus that only came once every hour and a half or walking down the road which was about 2 miles. We did all 3 and only went down once a day. But the view and the tranquility was a great compensation.

If Zoe’s happy I’m happy .