Rapallo Private Walking Tour: Castle, Basilica and Bay

This Rapallo walking tour opens at Castello sul Mare, a 16th-century fortress raised to fend off pirates, standing right above the Tigullio Gulf. With a licensed guide you see it from outside, then step into the old town under the Medieval Porticoes and the narrow carruggi.

On the way you pass the Chiostro della Musica, an old religious complex given a second life as a cultural venue, and lively Piazza Venezia, on the site of the first settlement's Roman forum. The small Oratorio dei Bianchi keeps frescoes and a carved wooden altar inside.

• Basilica dei Santi Gervasio e Protasio, with its Baroque and Neoclassical facade and leaning red-brick bell tower
• Porta delle Saline, one of the last medieval gates
• Ponte Annibale, a scenic viewpoint over the harbor

You finish along Lungomare Vittorio Veneto, where palm trees and Liberty-style hotels set the tone, with the whole gulf ahead. Wear comfortable shoes for the lanes.