Liguria · Genova
Recco
A coastal town rebuilt from 90 percent destruction in 1943, known for IGP cheese focaccia and Pro Recco water polo.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Recco is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu.
The nearest town with a letter is Camogli, No. 24, 9 min by car.
Subscribe and you get Recco's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 25 min from Genoa
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 9,279
- 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
Recco sits on a small inlet of the Golfo Paradiso between Sori and Camogli, fifteen kilometers from Genova. The town's viaduct made it a strategic Allied target in the second world war; the 1943 bombings killed 127 inhabitants and left the town to be rebuilt through the late 1940s and early 1950s, so the church, the bridge and much of the fabric standing today date from that reconstruction rather than before it. The focaccia has documented origins in the nineteenth century, well before the war or the IGP designation gave it formal status, and it is made in a small cluster of towns along this stretch of coast, of which Recco is only one, though the one that gives the dish its name.
Pro Recco's history runs on a separate track entirely, a club founded in 1913 whose record has nothing to do with the town's postwar rebuilding. What ties the two together is only the place itself: a small gulf town, destroyed and remade, that carries a nineteenth-century food and a twentieth-century sporting dynasty as its two claims to notice.
How to get there
From Genoa (GOA), about 34 min by car.
Pisa (PSA) is about 1 h 56 min away.
By car from the center of Pisa 1 h 47 min or Milan 1 h 56 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Genoa, Pisa or Milan?
Coming by train into Genova Piazza Principe? Recco is about 31 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Genoa airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Santuario di Nostra Signora del Suffragio
The campanile rebuilt on the site of the main church lost to the bombings is the tallest postwar bell tower in Liguria.
Golfo Paradiso seafront
Small inlet between Sori and Camogli, with the Bandiera Blu beach and a short lungomare looking south to the Portofino peninsula.
Ponte di Recco
The rebuilt railway viaduct stands on the site of the structure that drew the wartime bombings, and remains the spine of the modern town.
Monte Esoli
Hill behind the town, walking trails into the upper Recco valley with views down the gulf to Camogli.
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.
Da ö VittorioRistorante
Da ö Vittorio has one Gambero Rosso fork (75/100), a place on Italy's historic-locali register and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
ManuelinaRistorante
Manuelina carries one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100), a place on Italy's historic-locali register, plus a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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.
Signature dish
Focaccia di Recco col formaggioBread
Two paper-thin sheets of dough around molten crescenza cheese, baked until blistered, protected by IGP.
See every town in our catalogue with a dish of its own.
Living here
Could you live here?
Recco meets both of our rules for a small town.
- 9,279 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Genova, a city of 564,080, is 25 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 9,279, down 5.4% since 2015
- Nearest city Genoa, 25 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Rapallo, 5 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,100 to €3,100 per m² to buy, €6.70 to €9.80 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 52% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Genoa airport (GOA), 34 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Market day Monday mornings
- Regional capital Genoa, 25 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
5% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Ecuador and Egypt, against 9% across Italy. 34 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, Germany and France. There are 366 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 30% 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, 5 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Genoa, 22 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Genoa, 22 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 12 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 1.05% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.6% 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. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 15% in a high or medium one. 14% 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
FOCACCIA COL FORMAGGIO
Two thin sheets of unleavened dough sealing fresh stracchino; IGP since 2012, made only in Recco, Avegno, Sori and Camogli.
PRO RECCO
The most successful water polo club in men's history, founded 1913, with thirty-seven Serie A1 titles and nineteen Coppa Italia.
REBUILT FROM 1943
The Allies destroyed 90 percent of the town in 1943 because of its strategic viaduct; what stands today is postwar reconstruction.
Common questions
- What is Recco known for?
- Recco is a coastal town rebuilt from 90 percent destruction in 1943, known for IGP cheese focaccia and Pro Recco water polo.
- Where is Recco?
- Recco is a comune in the province of Genova, in Liguria, at 5 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Recco?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Genoa (GOA), about 34 min by car.
- Can you get to Recco without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Pisa to Recco?
- About 1 h 47 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Recco?
- 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 Recco?
- Santa Margherita Ligure, Andora and Diano.
- How many people live in Recco?
- 9,279 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Recco a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Recco is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Genova, is 25 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Rapallo, 5 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 52% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 5 m
- Population: 9,279
- Surface area: 9.77 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 Recco appears in
- The best hidden towns that eat well in the province of GenovaGenova provinceeats wellhidden6 towns · smallest 2,796 residents
- The best beach towns in the province of GenovaGenova provinceclean beach7 towns · smallest 2,486 residents
- The best hidden coastal towns in the province of GenovaGenova provincecoastalhidden7 towns · smallest 2,486 residents
- The best towns with a serious restaurant in the province of GenovaGenova provinceserious restaurant7 towns · smallest 351 residents
- 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 coastal towns within 45 minutes of GenoaNear Genoacoastalwithin 45 min10 towns · smallest 351 residents · closest 25 min away
Featured on
Recco appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Near here, with a letter
- Written about. No. 24.
Camogli
Province: Genova
A fishing village on the Golfo Paradiso whose nineteenth-century fleet of a thousand white sails made it Italy's third maritime power in the Mediterranean.
9 min by car
- 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.
9 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.
14 min by car
Our guide
Recco 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.