48 hours in.. GENOA; Find what Columbus missed by sailing off.

GENOA is probably best known for the man who left it behind to discover the New World.

But the home of Christopher Columbus has plenty of sights of its own which are well worth discovering as ALAN HART found out on a 48-hour visit...

SATURDAY MORNING

FLYING into Genoa over the lower reaches of the Alps is a sight in itself. The city lies at the foot of the Ligurian Hills and from the sky it's an expanse of grey rooftops, broken by the belltowers of dozens of churches. Out on the very edge of the city is the Lanterna, a medieval lighthouse which couldn't be a starker contrast with the skyscraper housing Genoa's World Trade Centre.

Half an hour after landing at Christopher Columbus Airport - an air strip surrounded by the Ligurian Sea - we were in the centre of the city. Expect to pay around pounds 12 for the four-mile journey into the city centre.

After dropping off our bags we headed for the Piazza della Vittoria, near the new theatre, and then to the Piazza de Ferrari and its recently-restored fountain.

The Palazzo Ducale has been the home of the Genovese government for six centuries and in the bookshop you can buy a book of tickets for pounds 14 which will get you in to all of the city's major museums. Even better, the tickets (which are valid for 48 hours) come with a two-day bus pass.

Feeling hungry we stopped for lunch at Le Corbusier on Via San Donato, where students from the nearby faculty of architecture mingle with budding artists. Expect to pay pounds 10 each for a simple pasta dish and a glass of wine.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

A BARGAIN at pounds 7 was a guided tour of the Palazzo Bianco, Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Dor ia Tursi - where Genoa-born Paganini's favourite violin is on display. And we timed it just right when we dropped into Il Balcone on Salita Pollaiol at 6pm. It was happy hour with cocktails at pounds 2.80.

It's enough to make even shopping bearable. And passing through Via Roma off the Piazza Corvetto we found Genoa's classiest shops alongside the Galleria Mazzini. I was reliably informed you can pick up Prada shoes and handbags at 30 per cent less than you'd pay in London. And apparently the more you spend the more you save...

SATURDAY EVENING

FOR a gourmet dinner in sumptuous surroundings Le Cantine Squarciafico in Piazza Ivrea close to San Lorenzo Cathedral is simply unforgettable. A threecourse meal with wine costs pounds 15 to pounds 20 each. To dance away all those calories we headed for Fellini on the Via X11 Ot tobre and its three di f ferent discos. Ignoring the electronic, house and jazz we got on down to golden oldies from the 70s and 80s.

SUNDAY MORNING

AS Genoa is the home of the world's most famous sailor, Mr Columbus, it's fitting the city should be home to the biggest maritime museum in the Mediterranean - the Galata Museo del Mare. With models and reconstructions, the history of navigation is explained so even the biggest landlubber can understand what Columbus achieved.

Most of Genoa's cheap-and-cheerful cafes - friggitoria - are closed on Sundays - so we headed for lunch to Sopranis at Piazza Valoria. Expect to pay around pounds 10 for lunch.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

GENOA'S also famous for its aquarium with more than 600 different species kept in artificially-created habitats ranging from Mediterranean seabeds to a lagoon in Madagascar, and from jungle rivers to coral reefs. And a combined ticket including admission to the Galata as well as the aquarium costs only pounds 14 for adults and pounds 7 for children.

Whatever you age you are bound to be bowled over by the super-smart seals and the comic turns of the penguins. On the Great Blue Ship you can safely stroke stingrays and take a snap of some of the young crocodiles.

SUNDAY EVENING

THE old city, clustered round the ancient port, is full of twisting streets and narrow alleys, known as carugi. Genoa was bombed during World War II, but the 15th Century home of Columbus near Porta Soprana, survived, although you need to book to look inside the house.

It was from Genoa that Giuseppe Garibaldi set sail with 1,000 Red-Shirts to unify Italy in 1860 so we thought it appropriate to eat our last main meal at the Restaurant Garibaldi in Via ai Quattro Canti di San Francesco. About pounds 40 for dinner for two

MONDAY MORNING

AFTER breakfast there was just time to buy souvenir jars of pesto - the Genovese speciality made from basil and olive oil - before heading back to the airport.

WHAT'S THE DEAL?

RYAN AIR have single flights from Stansted from pounds 15 to pounds 79. See www.ryanair.com or call 0906-2705656.

ROOMS at the Ramada Hotel on Via Balb cost from pounds 55 per night with breakfast (www.lastminute.com).

FOR more info contact the Genoa Tourist Board on www.genovatouristboard.net or call 00 39-010-576791

CAPTION(S):

The statue of Columbus - the man who set sail to find America' Genoa's busy harbour is the centre of the old city' Pictures: PICTURE COLOUR LIBRARY/WORLD PICTURES

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Publication:	Sunday Mirror (London, England)
Date:	Mar 5, 2006
Words:	857
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