Genoa

Genoa confuses people because it works two ways. As a standalone break it gives you the largest medieval old town in Europe — a dense maze of carruggi lanes around San Lorenzo cathedral — plus the UNESCO Rolli palaces along Via Garibaldi and Italy’s biggest aquarium, all at noticeably lower prices than Florence or Venice. As a base it is one of the best on the northwest coast: Brignole and Principe stations put the Cinque Terre, Portofino, Camogli and Santa Margherita within an easy day return, so you sleep in a real city rather than a packed coastal village.

The planning call is mostly about where you sleep. The old town is huge and brilliant by day, but its lower, port-side lanes are dark and disorienting after dark, so base yourself on the upper edge around Via Garibaldi, or by Via XX Settembre and Brignole if Riviera day trips are the point. Book the aquarium ahead on summer weekends, eat farinata and focaccia from the old sciamadda ovens instead of the tourist tables near the port, and consider the Genova Museum Card if you plan to visit two or more palaces.

Two or three nights covers the city itself. Add nights only if you are using it as a Riviera base — and at that point Genoa earns its keep, because everywhere worth seeing on this stretch of coast is a short, cheap train away. Below, the structured planning — where to stay, what to book, how to get in from Cristoforo Colombo, and a realistic budget in pounds — picks up from here.