Certainly all boaters who moor at our tourist marina in Genoa look at our capital as a great maritime city. And indeed it is: the great port, the museums dedicated to the marine ecosystem, the poetic village of Boccadasse, are just some of the many elements that define Genoa as a seafaring city. In reality, however, just a few minutes from our boat berths, you can breathe alpine fragrances. Ours is indeed a scenographically vertical city, which with its elevators and its funiculars allows you to quickly reach the mountains behind. So today we want to propose an unusual activity but decidedly spectacular to get to know Genoa even better: we will talk about the Walls Park and a beautiful excursion that can be done along its trails.

The Walls Park of Genoa

Genoa has something precious to offer even to trekking enthusiasts, just a few minutes from the city center. We are talking about the Walls Park, a large green area that extends for over 600 hectares. The name of the park takes inspiration from the stone walls that characterize it, namely those New Walls built in the seventeenth century to embrace and defend the city from above. From the city these long and high walls are practically invisible, and it is therefore necessary to go up high to discover them: once on site you realize that this historical monument is still well preserved today, developing between the city and the nature that surrounds it.

The park that takes its name from these walls develops between the Val Polcevera and the Val Bisagno, presenting the hiker with vast wild areas. Here, among the vegetation typical of the Mediterranean scrub, you gradually move away from the noise of the city, to discover a world made of pines, birds and meadows. What captures the eye and attention of the walker are then the forts that rise in this area: let’s see how to organize an excursion in these parts, taking the tour of the forts of Genoa!

The tour of the forts of Genoa

Those who moor their boat in our tourist marina can start this panoramic tour in the blink of an eye. Leaving our docks, you just need to walk for less than 10 minutes to reach the terminus of the Zecca-Righi funicular. This will allow you to rise 279 meters in height, to reach Castellaccio. From here begins the classic route of the Genoese forts tour, heading towards the Castellaccio and Sperone forts, which are located at about 450 meters of altitude. Needless to say, from up here, the view of the city, the hills that embrace it and the sea that bathes it is simply majestic. After passing the first two forts, you can head towards the Begato fort, or alternatively towards the smaller Puin fort. Certainly the most ambitious destination is the Diamante fort, which takes its name from the peak on which it was built; it is the highest fort of all as well as the most isolated within the Walls Park. From here you can decide the return route by exploiting the trail network of the park in the most diverse ways, based on your desire to walk and the time available. You could return towards the Zecca-Righi funicular, or you could opt for the Genoa-Casella railway, therefore going to the Campi station and then taking a train to the city: it is a decidedly small and old-style train, which gives the sensation of a journey from another time.

What has been described is therefore an activity that combines sport, history, nature and exceptional and picturesque means of transport: certainly to be considered to get out of the “usual” tourist tours of Genoa, knowing that the starting point is easily reachable by funicular from our boat berths!