We knew we wanted to visit Portofino, Italy, and when I was looking at the map I saw Porto Venere. I thought at first that Porto Venere was Portofino (sometimes the Italian name is different from the English name) and then I realized it was a different port town near Cinque Terre.
I am glad we decided to check out Porto Venere, too! It has a lot more pedestrian streets and in some ways it reminds me of Venice because you feel like you could get lost. There are roads coming and going and stairways mixed in so you aren’t really sure which path to take. There are more shops and restaurants and it feels more like a town where people live year-round (Portofino is more of a vacation village).
Here are some of my favorite photos from walking around Porto Venere:
