Genoa travel guide: the old town, Rolli palaces and a two-day visit

What to see in Genoa on a first visit

Keep the first visit around three connected areas: Via Garibaldi for the Rolli palaces, the old-town lanes around San Lorenzo, and Porto Antico for the harbour and aquarium. These give you a city visit rather than a collection of transfers. Piazza De Ferrari and Palazzo Ducale are useful landmarks on the eastern edge of the historic centre.

Choose an interior according to your interests. The Strada Nuova Museums are for palace rooms and art collections; the aquarium is a different, substantial attraction at the waterfront. Galata Museo del Mare is the alternative for maritime history. Trying to fit all three into a brief port stop leaves little time for the streets between them.

Boccadasse and Nervi are separate coastal outings east of the central sights. Boccadasse suits a small-harbour stop with Corso Italia; Nervi suits its seafront promenade and parks. Pick one on a two-day visit rather than assuming both are adjacent to Porto Antico.

Arriving by train: Piazza Principe or Brignole?

Search for Genova, the Italian station name. Piazza Principe is the useful western gateway for Via Balbi, Palazzo Reale and the Galata side of the harbour. Brignole is the eastern central station, convenient for the Via XX Settembre approach to De Ferrari and for rooms in that part of the city. Choose the stop using the actual room entrance, not only the word centre in a listing.

Some intercity services call at both stations, but do not assume yours does. Read the booked arrival and departure separately. For an onward regional trip along the coast, select the destination station and date in Trenitalia rather than treating every eastbound train as a village stopper.

Leave a transfer margin when connecting separate tickets. The coast is not a high-speed shuttle corridor, and a late local arrival can matter if the next train has a reserved seat. The current regional timetable runs to 12 December 2026; do not extend its departures into the next timetable period.

Genoa airport: direct Volabus or train plus Airlink

Volabus links the airport directly with Piazza Principe and Brignole, passing through the centre. It is the simpler option when your room is near one of those stops and you want to avoid moving bags between a shuttle and a train. AMT requires a MetDaily ticket for an ordinary visitor using Volabus; do not board with the basic urban single ticket.

Airlink is the train-and-bus alternative through Genova Sestri Ponente Aeroporto station. On Trenitalia, use Genova Aeroporto C. Colombo as the origin or destination to buy the combined journey. Sestri Ponente Aeroporto station is not inside the terminal: the bus leg matters.

Compare the complete arrival at your room, including the connection and final walk. A quoted bus running time is not airport-to-hotel time. For an early flight or late landing, use the operator’s dated departure result rather than assuming either service runs all night.

Rolli palaces: what you can actually visit

Via Garibaldi is worth walking even without a museum booking. For interiors, the Strada Nuova Museums connect Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria-Tursi. Palazzo Rosso focuses on the furnished residence and family collections, Palazzo Bianco on paintings, and Tursi includes decorative arts and Paganini’s historic violins. Allow a substantial part of a morning rather than fitting the whole complex between two train connections.

The published winter hours, valid 28 September 2026 to 18 April 2027, are 10:00–18:30, with last admission one hour before closing. On Mondays only Palazzo Rosso opens; the museums close on 25 December. Put the fuller three-palace visit on another day.

Rolli Days use special reservations and guided routes. A UNESCO listing does not mean every palace is freely open, and an ordinary museum visit is not a ticket to private buildings. Red weather alerts also close the Strada Nuova Museums, so keep a changeable outdoor plan rather than assuming an alert affects only hiking.

A practical two-day Genoa plan

This is our editorial pacing suggestion, not a packaged tour. On day one, start at Via Garibaldi and take the palace visit you have chosen. Continue through the old town towards San Lorenzo, then reach Porto Antico. Keep the afternoon for the harbour and streets around it. If the aquarium is the priority, shorten the palace visit or move it to the next day rather than doing both at speed.

On day two, choose Galata for a museum-led morning or Palazzo Ducale if its current exhibition interests you. In settled weather, use the afternoon for Boccadasse and Corso Italia, or take a regional train towards Nervi for the promenade and parks. Return to the city for the evening rather than adding Portofino to the same day.

With only one day, keep Via Garibaldi, San Lorenzo and Porto Antico, plus one paid interior. With three days, give the extra day to a coastal place such as Camogli or Santa Margherita Ligure. Cinque Terre deserves its own travel calculation and usually a closer base if repeated village visits are the goal.

Where to stay and how much walking to expect

For a first visit, choose the old-town edge around De Ferrari for central sightseeing, the Principe/Via Balbi side for that station and western harbour museums, or the Brignole side for an easier relationship with the eastern station and larger streets. These are location recommendations, not inspected hotel endorsements.

A historic-centre address may involve narrow lanes, steps and a walk from the nearest vehicle access. Ask for the luggage approach, floor and lift details before booking. A hillside address can add a climb even when the map shows a short distance; an operating public lift does not establish a step-free route into the building.

If arriving by car, confirm the permitted unloading route and actual overnight parking with the property. Do not drive into the old lanes on the strength of a booking confirmation. For a short central stay, a car adds parking work without helping you move between Via Garibaldi, San Lorenzo and the harbour.

Local transport tickets: city buses are not the regional railway

AMT lists the ordinary ticket at €2 for 110 minutes. The integrated AMT–Trenitalia ticket is €2.20 for 110 minutes and adds the Genoa urban rail area, including the Nervi–Voltri corridor. It is not a rail ticket across all Liguria. Validate paper tickets at the start of travel and retain them for checks.

The ordinary AMT ticket excludes Volabus, the Genova–Casella railway and line 782 to Portofino. MetDaily is a separate visitor product covering AMT services including those named exceptions. AppAMT and ILA MetDaily purchases start validity immediately; traditional paper 24-hour tickets need validation. A transport ticket’s inclusion of a railway does not prove that railway is running rather than using replacement buses.

For a central walking day, you may need only individual rides. Compare a day product when adding airport travel or several AMT trips; do not buy it expecting admission to museums or regional trains along the entire Riviera.

Transport notice for 30 October 2026

AMT’s 23 October notice reports a 24-hour strike announced for Friday 30 October 2026, despite the guarantee commission’s objection. Its published protected periods differ: Genoa urban services 06:00–09:00 and 17:30–20:30; provincial services 06:00–09:00 and 17:00–20:00. These are service-protection periods, not a promise that every individual departure will run normally.

For that date, keep central sightseeing walkable and recheck AMT’s notice before relying on a bus connection to an airport or reserved train. Do not apply the urban evening times to every provincial service, or assume this AMT notice describes Trenitalia’s separate operation.