Italian Coastal Honeymoon in Portofino

Italy Portofino Honeymoon

So, I know a lot of you are planning your fall honeymoon – or perhaps a special anniversary trip? Well, I’m excited to share a bit from our trip to Portfino, Italy! If you’ve been following our trip, we traveled from Barcelona to Mallorca to Paris to Amsterdam and then to Portofino! Portofino is a gorgeous Italian fishing village + resort town in the northern part of Italy, on the Italian Riviera. We stayed at the breathtakingly beautiful Belmond Hotel Splendido. The hotel is on a cliff overlooking the beautiful harbor of Portofino.

Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy

We spent 3 nights here and if you are looking for a relaxing spot, Portofino is pretty perfect. I think it would be a great city to partner with Florence or Tuscany also if you are thinking of Italy as your honeymoon or next vacation spot.

The pool at the Hotel Splendido is p-r-e-t-t-y stunning and offers a great view of the harbor. After your morning dip, you can enjoy lunch by the pool (which we of course did!) with yummy wood fire pizzas and pesto pasta (the area here is known for their pesto, so be sure to try some while here!).

Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy

Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy

Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy

My favorite part of our stay were our breakfasts each morning. We had the most gorgeous views (yep, that is the view above and the balcony we were sitting on is below) to eat, sip cappuccinos and plan your activities for the day. They also have great live entertainment each night in the cocktail bar – Sienna was introduced to the maracas there and even got to with a fun version of All Night Long. :)

Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy

Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy

The hotel has the prettiest secret gardens and paths to stroll on property, right?!

The village of Portofino is a short 10 minute walk from the hotel – perfect for dinner or an afternoon of exploring. We loved walking into town for dinner – it was such a pretty walk (and not that hard except for the last 5 minutes when it gets a bit steep and you really have to hike back up to the hotel, but worth it – plus you need to work off some of the pasta + bread!)

Italy Portofino Honeymoon

Italy Portofino Honeymoon

LOVED all the colors in town…and so many boats! The waves were a bit crazy when we were there (late May) but if you travel during the summer or early fall, you can take a boat to visit the nearby coastal towns which would make for a fun day activity.

Italy_portofino_honeymoon_boats

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One morning after breakfast we decided to walk into town and hike up to Castello Brown (the castle on the hill in the above photo). The hike is a full of stairs and pretty steep, but not too bad. When you get to the top you’re treated with a stunning view of the town – plus there is a cute bar at the top where you can enjoy a glass of rosé which I totally recommend. :) Oh, and you can even get married at Castello Brown! Would make for a pretty gorgeous spot to say I Do!

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We stopped for a quick break on the walk up, then Jason + Sienna grabbed a table to discuss lunch options after our hike back down the hill.

Italy Portofino Honeymoon

Above is the view from Castello Brown…so, so pretty!!

Portofino Italy

For our own honeymoon 7 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!!), Jason + I had visited Cinque Terre, so we just had to to take a day trip there. It’s about a 45 min train ride and is a perfect day trip. If you’ve never been to Cinque Terre, I would def recommend doing the hikes between the villages (Cinque Terre is made up of five picturesque villages — Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore) — one of my most favorite things I’ve ever done but it really is a full day activity and since we had our 2 year old daughter with us, just wasn’t possible on this trip.

Cinque Terre Honeymoon

Exploring Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre Italy

For this trip, we took the train to Monterosso, where we explored a bit and then had some pretty tasty pizza at Pizzeria La Smorfia. Then we had hoped to take the ferry boat there to Vernazza (the next town down) but it wasn’t running that day (guess the waves were too crazy again – if the ferry boats are working, those are another fun way to travel between villages), so we took the train instead. We had a wonderful dinner in the plaza and then the most delicious ice cream from Gelateria Vernazza — Salted Peanuts and Nutella + Amarena Cherry. YUM!! Such a fun, fun day and so glad we got to share one of our favorite spots with Sienna.

Cinque Terre Italy

Ice Cream Cone from Italy

Cinque Terre Italy

So, if you are looking for towns with the prettiest color houses + delicious Italian food, I can’t recommend Portofino and the Belmond Hotel Splendido! Seriously wishing we were back there right now…

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