Genoa by moped?

[louirish]

After searching 48 pages of threads I've come to the conclusion there is not much to see or do in Genoa. You can only look at so many churches and museums in a 12 hour stop. What are the chances that there might be mopeds for rent so we could explore on our own?:)

[salabc]

i'm not aware of any rental place even if if genoa has a veri high concentration of bikes/mopepd / scooters

furtermore please consider that traffic in town is quite heavy

[louirish]

Thanks, I know years ago we were in Corfu Greece and we rented mopeds and had the time of our lives. There are just a couple stops on this itinerary that seem a little boring to me.

[LittleMissMagic]

Whoa, now - Genoa is my current home, and it is not boring!!! It is wonderful, actually, because it is not overridden by tourists like other Italian ports.

 

If you want something somewhat touristy, but also really cool, definitely check out the aquarium. It was designed by Renzo Piano (famous architect from Genoa) and is the largest in Italy.

 

Genoa is primarily a walking city. I do not know of any place that rents scooters, and I definitely do not recommend renting a scooter because driving here is extremely dangerous if you aren't used to it. There are many one-way/both-way streets which are confusing to people who are used to traffic lights and two lanes.

 

We do have good public transportation. You can buy a 4 time use public transport pass from any Tabacci. This is good for the bus, elevator, and funicolare. For great views, I really recommend taking the fonicolare Zecca Righi.

 

If you like shopping, head to Piazza di Ferrari. Even if you don't like to shop, it's worth checking out for the wonderful fountain. If you want to venture out of the city center a little, Cimitero di Staglieno is worth the trip.

 

And if you decide there isn't enough to do within Genoa, you could always take a train to Nervi. You can actually get there on a bus pass - no need for a regional train ticket.

 

Genoa is not dull. It's a beautiful port city with lots of character!

 

DSC_8320-35 by vshingl, on Flickr

[euro cruiser]

Genova has a pretty good tourism web site, with lots of things to see and do: http://www.turismo.comune.genova.it/spip.php?lang=en

[louirish]

Didn't mean to bash your city...we will definetly go on the funicolare, I've heard it's great. Thanks again.

[louirish]

One more question. Regarding Nervi, how long is the drive and are the busses air conditioned? What is Nervi known for? Thanks for any help.

Cindy

[LittleMissMagic]

You actually get to Nervi on train. It's about a 15 minute journey. You can take the bus to the station Piazza Principe and then hop on a train from there. Nervi is a lovely seaside town with (rocky) beaches and wonderful architecture.

[Been There, Planning That]

Little Miss Magic,

 

We're just beginning to plan a pre cruise week in your city. We've booked an economical hotel in the centre of the city and plan to explore Genoa in some depth.

 

If we run out of things to do in the city what day excursions would you suggest we explore?

 

We'll arrive November 9th so I fear the weather could be damp at best.

 

Ruth

 

PS

And we weren't even hoping for a moped! We'll walk and use public transportation, navigating on my husband's, "Speaking Italian for tourists in 10 easy lessons." But on a previous independent visit to Italy we found that when he frequently couldn't understand a response, French helped, when English failed.

[salabc]

almost nothing to be added to what said by littlemissmagic

 

as stated the aquarium is not only the biggest of italy but is one of the biggest in europe and it's an important research centre

if you are interested in italian food and wines next to the aquarium i would reccomend a visit to "Eatitaly" is a shop specialized in italian quality food ( understood they recently opened a similar shop in NY the shop is located in front of the panoramic lift ( called "il Bigo")

 

for a day trip would suggest you to take a train to camogli to visit this small seaman village ( some ship's officers are from this village or they studied at the local naval school) very famous for their buildings

from camogli you can take the boat to San fruttuoso , this is even a smaller village ( a dozen of people living there ) which can be reached only by sea and it's fanous for his middle age abbey, from san fruttuoso you can accry on by boat to portofino and santa margherita end return to genoa by train from santa margherita

[LittleMissMagic]

Another possible daytrip if you want to travel inland is Milan. It's about a 2-hr train ride away. The regional train is typically €12,80 each way 2nd class, but you can get it as low as €8,80 for weird times like super late at night. A faster train (only by ten minutes or so... hardly worth it unless there are no other trains leaving around that time) is usually €19,80 2nd class. In Milan, I recommend visiting the duomo (and taking the elevator to the top if it's available). You can see The Last Supper, and of course there is tons of shopping.

And Torino is about a 3-hr train, and last time I went, it was €11 each way. Torino is an easy walking city - you can really walk to all major attractions. I highly recommend the Mole Antoinette and the Cinema Museum there, as well as the automobile museum (which is a little out of the way). And there are many palaces that are close together and easy to tour. If you want to make a weekend out of it, they sell a city pass which is only €20-25 for a 2-day pass and includes admission to all museums.

[Been There, Planning That]

Thank you Salabc and Little Miss Magic.

 

You've both offered great ideas and practical advice on how to do each day trip.

 

I've started a Genoa 'cut and paste' file and these two generous suggestions head the list.

 

Ruth