Hi, I’m Christophe, and I didn’t grow up in Genoa. I chose it.
I’m French, with a background in history and geography and a long-running passion for art, design, food and travel. In 2024 I decided to move to Genoa, and it quickly became my città del cuore – my city of heart. What began as a new chapter turned into a bit of an obsession. I now spend my free time exploring the caruggi, churches, palazzi, belvederes and hills this city hides, eating my way through its focaccia, pesto and seaside trattorias, and telling the world how extraordinary it is.
Why this site exists
Genoa doesn’t perform for tourists. It doesn’t have the polished, ready-made charm of Florence or Venice, and it doesn’t try to. It reveals itself slowly – in a Baroque dome glimpsed down a dark alley, in the smell of focaccia at dawn, in the view from a mountain fort. Most guides either skip Genoa or flatten it into a checklist. Genoa Compass is for everyone else: travellers who want art, history, real food and the texture of a living city rather than a backdrop. And because this is a living city, I also want to make sense of how it’s changing – to understand the mutations of Genoa in the 21st century, from the reinvention of its post-industrial waterfront to the slow reawakening of a former maritime superpower.
What you’ll find here
Deeply researched guides to Genoa’s religious and civil heritage, its artists and palaces, its viewpoints and hikes, its food, and the day trips strung along the Ligurian Riviera – alongside an eye on how the city is reshaping itself today. I visit the places I cover and dig into their history before I write a word, and everything here is written by me – practical details and the story behind them.
Say hello
Have a question, a correction, or a suggestion for a place I should cover? I’d genuinely love to hear from you – reach me at genoacompass@gmail.com