Liguria · Genova
Bogliasco
A fishing village on the Riviera di Levante just east of Genoa, built around a 13th-century stone bridge over the Bogliasco torrent and a tight grid of pastel-coloured houses opening onto a pebble cove.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Bogliasco is on our list.
The nearest town with a letter is Portofino, No. 26, 14 km away.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 16 min from Genoa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 4,298
- J12°
- F14°
- M15°
- A17°
- M21°
- J25°
- J28°
- A29°
- S25°
- O21°
- N17°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 28° and coldest in February at 14°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Bogliasco sits 15 kilometers east of Genoa on the Riviera di Levante, where the Bogliasco torrent meets the sea between two rocky headlands. Archaeological surveys on the slopes of Mount Cordona found stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic and Mesolithic, and Roman-era artefacts confirm that the corridor down from the Val Fontanabuona to the coast was a transit route for imperial troops. The village's signature monument is the medieval bridge near the mouth of the torrent, traditionally called il ponte romano although the surviving structure is Romanesque, built in the 13th century and remodelled in the 17th.
The historic center tightens around the parish church of Natività di Maria Santissima (a baroque rebuild of an earlier Romanesque oratory) and a network of stepped alleys (creuze) climbing into the olive terraces above. The cove below is small, pebbled, and clear enough that the village's ASD Bogliasco club has produced multiple Italian national water polo and synchronised swimming champions. The Genoa metropolitan train brings Bogliasco into Liguria's commuter belt (twenty minutes from Brignole), which is why the pastel houses are kept lived-in rather than picture-postcard.
How to get there
From Genoa (GOA), about 26 min by car.
Pisa (PSA) is about 2 h 9 min away.
By car from the center of Milan 1 h 47 min or Pisa 2 h.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Genoa, Milan or Pisa?
Coming by train into Genova Piazza Principe? Bogliasco is about 23 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Genoa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Ponte medievale (il "ponte romano")
13th-century Romanesque stone bridge near the mouth of the Bogliasco torrent, remodelled in the 17th century. Named romano colloquially but architecturally Romanesque.
Chiesa della Natività di Maria Santissima
Baroque parish church rebuilt on the footprint of an earlier Romanesque oratory, with a 17th-century facade overlooking the seafront.
Spiaggia di Bogliasco
Small pebbled cove tucked between two rocky points, the home beach of the ASD Bogliasco water polo and synchronised swimming clubs.
Sentiero verso il Monte Cordona
Coastal-hill trail climbing from the village into the chestnut woods of Monte Cordona, where Paleolithic and Roman artefacts were found in the 1980s.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Il BistrottoBistrot
Il Bistrotto holds two Gambero Rosso tables.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Bogliasco is at the end of the road.
- A village of 4,298. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Genova, is 21 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Genova, a city of 564,080, is 16 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 4,298, down 2.1% since 2015
- Nearest city Genoa, 16 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Rapallo, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,650 to €3,900 per m² to buy, €7.40 to €11.00 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 38% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Genoa airport (GOA), 26 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Genoa, 16 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Sri Lanka, Albania and Ecuador, against 9% across Italy. 30 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, the Netherlands and France. There are 305 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 26% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Genoa province ranks 43rd of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Rapallo, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Genoa, 16 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Genoa, 16 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 5 km as the crow flies. There are 2 within 30 km.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Liguria spends about €2,230 a month, €490 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €552 a year for water, on the Liguria average. In Genoa, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.28, a meal in a pizzeria €11.86 and a man's haircut €17.37.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 4% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 4% in a high or medium one. 17% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
BRIDGE
The 13th-century "Roman" bridge over the Bogliasco torrent: actually Romanesque, but the name has stuck for centuries.
WATER POLO
Home of ASD Bogliasco, one of Italy's strongest water polo and synchronised swimming clubs.
GENOA COMMUTER
Twenty minutes from Genova Brignole by train, a lived-in village rather than a seasonal resort.
Common questions
- What is Bogliasco known for?
- Bogliasco is a fishing village on the Riviera di Levante just east of Genoa, built around a 13th-century stone bridge over the Bogliasco torrent and a tight grid of pastel-coloured houses opening onto a pebble cove.
- Where is Bogliasco?
- Bogliasco is a comune in the province of Genova, in Liguria, at 5 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Bogliasco?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Genoa (GOA), about 26 min by car.
- Can you get to Bogliasco without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Milan to Bogliasco?
- About 1 h 47 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Bogliasco?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Bogliasco?
- Levanto, Celle Ligure and Camogli.
- How many people live in Bogliasco?
- 4,298 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Bogliasco a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Bogliasco is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Genova, is 21 min away. The nearest city, Genova, is 16 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Rapallo, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 38% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 5 m
- Population: 4,298
- Surface area: 4.42 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Bogliasco appears in
- The best hidden towns that eat well in the province of GenovaGenova provinceeats wellhidden6 towns · smallest 2,796 residents
- The best hidden coastal towns in the province of GenovaGenova provincecoastalhidden7 towns · smallest 2,486 residents
- The 8 best small towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of GenoaNear Genoaby trainwithin 90 mineats wellsmall8 towns · smallest 553 residents · closest 16 min away
- The best towns you can reach by train that eat well in the province of GenovaGenova provinceby traineats well9 towns · smallest 2,796 residents
- The best small coastal towns you can reach by train in LiguriaLiguriacoastalby trainsmall10 towns · smallest 553 residents
Featured on
Bogliasco appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 26.
Portofino
Province: Genova
Three hundred and fifty-one residents, the smallest municipal territory in the metropolitan area, and the harbor every superyacht in the Mediterranean wants to anchor in.
14 km away
- Written about. No. 27.
Rapallo
Province: Genova
The largest town on the Tigullio gulf, twice the location of treaties that redrew borders in postwar Europe.
27 min by car
- Written about. No. 25.
Chiavari
Province: Genova
The Tigullio capital between Portofino and the Cinque Terre, a 27,000-person Genoese trading town built around a thirteenth-century grid of porticoed streets.
30 min by car
Our guide
Bogliasco is in our Riviera di Levante guide
Riviera di Levante: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Riviera di Levante guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: The coast in the shadow of five villages. 19 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.