Abbey of San Fruttuoso

Abbey of San Fruttuoso tickets: which one to buy

The abbey charges a modest ticket, and there is no road to it: San Fruttuoso sits in a cove on the Portofino peninsula reachable only by boat or on foot. Ferries run from Camogli, Santa Margherita, Rapallo and Portofino through the warm months and cost more than the entry itself; the crossing from Camogli takes about twenty minutes. Walking in from Camogli over the headland takes two hours on a marked path with a steep descent, and from Portofino about the same.

Boat tickets are sold at the harbour kiosks and the last return sailing is early, which governs the whole visit. Guided tours from the coast towns bundle the boat and the entry at a markup. The Christ of the Abyss, a bronze statue standing eight metres underwater in the bay, is visited by divers and by glass-bottomed boats sold separately. Entry is free for members of the Italian environment trust, and the ticket desk is inside the arch at the back of the beach.

Visiting Abbey of San Fruttuoso: what to see

Benedictines settled this cove in the tenth century, around a church said to hold the relics of St Fructuosus of Tarragona, brought from Spain by monks fleeing the Moors. The Doria family, the great Genoese admirals, rebuilt and endowed it from the thirteenth century and are buried in a crypt of striped black and white stone beneath the church, their tombs arranged under low arches with the sea a few metres away. The cloister on the upper floor has plain columns and a view of nothing but water.

A watchtower added in the sixteenth century against Barbary pirates stands above the beach. The whole complex is wedged into a ravine between cliffs, with a handful of fishermen's houses, a tiny beach and two restaurants, and no cars, no shops and no road; the Italian environment trust has owned and run it since 1983. The upper church, rebuilt after a landslide in the sixteenth century, has a small museum of objects recovered from the bay, including amphorae and ship fittings.

Abbey of San Fruttuoso opening hours and the best time to go

Open daily from spring to autumn and at weekends only in winter, when ferries are infrequent or suspended entirely; from November to February a visit may be impossible without a private boat. Summer weekends bring a large crowd to a very small beach. The cove faces northwest, so the light is best in the afternoon. Sea conditions cancel sailings at short notice, and the walking paths are the fallback;

they are well marked but steep and should not be attempted in sandals. Allow an hour for the abbey and as long again for the beach and lunch. Bring cash, since some of the businesses in the cove do not take cards. The last ferry back is usually in the late afternoon and missing it means a long walk in the dark. Swimming off the pebble beach is the reason many Italians come, and the water is clear well into October.