Genoa: My Underrated Italian Treasure

We walked off the ship straight into the Porto Antico redesigned by Renzo Piano – the aquarium sphere and the pirate ship looked like toys against the huge old warehouses. The historic center starts literally at the dock gates and swallows you whole. Narrow caruggi alleys twist between 12th-century palaces and tiny shops selling sciacchetrà wine and pesto by the kilo. We got happily lost for hours, emerging at Piazza De Ferrari just as the fountain started dancing.

The Rolli Palaces are UNESCO for a reason – we toured Palazzo Rosso and stood in rooms painted floor-to-ceiling by Van Dyck while chandeliers dripped crystals above us. We had lunch — farinata and trofie al pesto at Antica Sciamadda – chickpea flatbread hot from the wood oven and pasta so green it glowed. In the afternoon we took the funicular up to Castelletto for the panoramic view locals call "the most beautiful in the world." The pros: authentic Italian port city with almost no cruise crowds. The cons: the caruggi can feel intimidating at first, but they're completely safe in daylight and full of life.