This isn't a query, but nevertheless I thought potential travellers might be interested in our experiences of, and thoughts about Genoa. Unfortunately, we arrived in heavy rain and also the day before a public holiday Ascension day Thursday 2nd June when pretty well everything was shut. However, allowing for that we are glad to have visited Genoa, and would certainly recommend it to visitors.
However, two nights is certainly enough time to see most of what is on offer. I would suggest that you do the open top bus tour first to orientate you, and from this you will realise that the main tourist area is the seafront, where you will find pleasant bars and restaurants, the excellent "EATALY" food shopping mall, and the aquarium.
Apart from that, the shopping on Via XX Septembre is just OK, and the old town has some jazzed up bits but is otherwise pretty seedy. It's a bit of a shock to see the prostitutes openly plying their trade at 2 o'clock on a sunny afternoon. The 17th and 18th century palaces on Via Garibaldi and around are interesting, but unless you are an art historian or otherwise very into that sort of thing, one is probably enough and Palazzo Real was the best of the three I visited my wife went back to the hotel after one.
Those in the old town, away from Via Garibaldi eg Spinola will require you to navigate your way down narrow streets and alleyways I was approached by two prostitutes on my way to Palazzo Spinola. I know all this sounds a bit negative, and I should say that we loved the aquarium and the seafront, where we had cocktails followed by an excellent meal. So do visit Genoa, but realise that it is a large seaport, tourists are in the minority, and you will enjoy it.
As different people have different interests, here is more comprehensive information www. Thank you Perlizia, for providing this very useful link. As I said in my review, these are our personal observations and everyone should make up their own minds. I certainly do not wish to discourage anyone from visiting Genoa , but to have realistic expectations. For me, the French equivalent to Genoa seems like Marseille : worth visiting, but not comparable to Nice in terms of the tourist experience.
