Ligurian Riviera

Portofino, the Cinque Terre and the Gulf of Poets, backed by the Viareggio yards that build and refit a large share of the fleet.

26 places on the chart: 15 harbour towns and ports, 1 marina or yard, 6 islands and 4 anchorages and bays.

Why the fleet comes here

Genoa: The Genoa International Boat Show, and the Marina Molo Vecchio
Portofino: The mooring field in the piazzetta is among the most expensive in the Mediterranean, and there are barely twenty buoys
Sanremo: Portosole, the first Italian marina east of the French border
Forte dei Marmi: The most expensive beach in Tuscany, anchored off rather than berthed at
Viareggio: The Viareggio yards — Benetti and the refit sheds that built much of the fleet now cruising past them
Portovenere: The Gulf of Poets, and the church on the point at its entrance
Vernazza: The only real harbour in the Cinque Terre
Camogli: The fishing village on the west side of the Portofino headland
Santa Margherita Ligure: The harbour next door to Portofino, where the boats that do not fit go
Monterosso al Mare: The northernmost of the Cinque Terre, with the only beach
Sestri Levante: The Bay of Silence, a day anchorage between Portofino and the Cinque Terre
Rapallo: Porto Carlo Riva, the marina that serves the Portofino peninsula
Riomaggiore: The southern end of the Cinque Terre
Alassio: The bay on the Riviera di Ponente
Lerici: The eastern shore of the Gulf of Poets
Manarola: The Cinque Terre village most often photographed from the water
San Fruttuoso: An abbey in a cove reachable only by sea or on foot, and the anchorage in front of it