Genoa is such an amazing city, full of gems you simply don’t find elsewhere. For example, the caruggi – the narrow medieval alleys in the historic center where the sun barely reaches, giving the place a mysterious, almost ghetto-like atmosphere (no offense meant!). Then there’s the sea, the stunning technical feats like the Ascensore di Castelletto (a public elevator that climbs the hill straight from the center) and the funiculars connecting different parts of the city. There’s even the Ascensore Montegalletto, a unique lift that moves both horizontally and vertically – something I’ve never seen anywhere else.

On top of that, Genoa offers breathtaking views from its hills, fantastic architecture, a unique atmosphere, the charming fishing village of Boccadasse, and urban beaches with that typical Ligurian vibe.

And yet… tourists are scarce. Which, to be honest, I don’t personally mind – I’ve been here twice and loved having the city to myself without the crowds. But I can’t wrap my head around it. Why does Genoa attract so few visitors? What is the city doing wrong?

Millions of tourists flock to Venice or the Cinque Terre, but here? Almost nobody.
Do you feel the same way?

by tripeirinho

34 comments

  2. O torta di riso.. o calci nel culo.

    …e la torta di riso è finita.

    That’s it

  7. Genova is Genova, it stinks (literally), you can’t go on the seaside (lungomare) without being harassed by sellers, the locals there are not more than 20% of the total population, or at least you never see the locals because they stay inside and it’s a fucking Port/Harbor, so it’s full of annoying traffic and trucks and containers. Also, there are no beaches and the water is awful (because if you remember, it’s a port). Besides going to the aquarium and seeing the city streets and the elevators (ascensore) you spoke about, nothing can convince me to spend more than a day in that city.

  8. Her beauty is subtle and hidden, not turist friendly. It’s better to visit it with a local

  11. Genoa is not in a very good position in the ranking of Italian tourist cities.

    I will try to list a number of factors that contribute to this.

    Genoa is part of the so-called Italian industrial triangle (Genoa-Milan-Turin).
    Nowadays this is less true than it used to be but it is still like this.
    This means that the tourist vocation is not a priority.

    Twelve km of port strongly influence the activity, panorama, character and logistics of the city and not always in a positive way.

    Genoa does not have any truly unique and sensational tourist attractions. Venice has San Marco and more. Florence has the Uffizi and more. Rome has the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and much more.
    If you ask anyone, even Italians, to cite a sensational work from Genoa, no one can tell you anything. Perhaps someone mentions the Lanterna which is however semi-abandoned in the middle of the shipyard surrounded by rows of container trucks.

    The reserved nature of the Genoese doesn’t help either.

  12. Because all tourists are busy being crammed like sardines into the same 4 cities (Venice, Verona, Rome and Florence) so there aren’t many people left to visit the rest of the country…

  14. Genova has its own super interesting history and culture, along with some very nice buildings/churches/art. But pretty much nothing of what you mentioned is unique to Genoa, it can all be found elsewhere, and better/in nicer settings.

  17. Because for our standards its ugly, but don’t tell that to the Genoans

  18. Because it’s in Italy.

    No matter how interesting you may find it, and you may even be right on some of the aspects, Genova isn’t even in the top 10 most interesting or beautiful cities in Italy.

    Even if we remove the unique gems such as Rome, Venice and Florence, Genova still doesn’t make the cut.

  19. Genoa has 2.7 millions visitors per year, Verona and Bologna 3.3 and 3.5.

    It is not that ignored…

  20. Too many nice places in Italy, places even better than Genoa are left neglected by international visitors, which is good for the residents, it means lower prices and rents.

  21. Abbiamo finito i soldi. E ai genovesi quelli piacciono. 

  22. Cause generally tourists who come in Italy tend to visit the same 4-5 cities, with 90% of the tourism focused around Venice, Rome, Milan, Florence, Naples and seaside locations. People in general don’t have the time to visit the whole country.

  23. The tourists are coming, slowly. I’ve seen Genova mentioned on several “undisovered travel cities” lists online, and saw a few influencer types on my last trip there. With all the folks that come through the port of Genova for mediterranean cruises, there’s an opportunity to get some of them to stay around for a few more days and see a real italian city in all its glory.

    Genova is my favorite italian city and I’m happy for more folks to experience it.

  24. We once went there just for the acquarium, then went home afterwards

  25. rice cake or kicks in the ass, and we’re all out of rice cake.

    or, to put it more extensively, genoans are not the most hospitable bunch in the world, and are very much not keen in the idea of having flocks of tourists there.so, culturally, there has been very little publicity on how amazing genoa is as a place. also,its way less tame for a tourist than naples, rome or milan. its a cold city, harsh and not very open. i love it, it holds a piece of my heart, but its tough to love. however, after having lived for a part of my life here in Barcelona, i have to say that whatever they did in Genoa to avoid tourists,they did it good and i’m very proud of them for defending their city for one of the worst plagues of the modern world.

  26. Io ne vedo di turisti in centro. Forse un paio di settimane fa era pieno.
    Non pieno come magari a Milano o Parigi, ma ce ne sono.
    E meno male che non sono tantissimi

  29. Because geonans are dumb as hell as a population, old and menthally closed, and they never know how to make it more visitable. Only two small places to spend the night in the movida, one for the cold seasons, and one for the summer, bars that have to close super early, a big airport with no or shitty flights.. An epidemic that would exterminate any over 70+ person, would make Genoa skyrockets into the future.

    Yes I’m genoan

  30. As a Sicilian living in mainland Italy….because Genoa is trash. It never receives sun in most of the city, the aquarium which claims to be the largest in Europe is boring and dull, Genoans and even foreign residents are jerks and do not like others and so much more. Italians on vacation don’t even go there.

  32. Because it’s Genoa. Food is great, though. Maybe we can til a bell tower and make a new attraction, lol.

  34. Something very odd is happening in Italy its like nobody is promoting the country at all, and the country lacks any real touristic infrastructure and connection to other countries unless you literally take your car and drive like 1300 km from Germany or Netherlands to get to it and i`d understand this if Italy was some ugly country but its literally at least from what i have seen on pictures and street view its one of the most beautiful countries in the world, at least from what i have seen of Sicily every single village has some beautiful cathedral or castle with a wonderful baroque city center or even sometimes a medieval city center which has become a rarity in Europe actually, with beautiful mountains and nature all surrounded by azure water that is in a region with a warm sea. Now the problem lies to getting to Italy and using the touristic infrastructure, if i a person living in a first world country have trouble getting to your country and even using the infrastructure then that means that not a lot of tourisits can visit your country and that the potential is not being properly utilized.

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