At Genoa's harbor, some 22 kilometers of wharves host cruise, pleasure, and transport vessels in one of the Mediterranean's two largest ports (the other is Marseilles).
As the traffic outgrew the Porto Antico (also called the Porto Vecchio - old port), a series of new facilities and a maritime station were built for shipping commerce, to welcome cruise passengers, and house a maritime museum and aquarium.
But the historic section remains, and you can still see the Darsena, where the galleys of Admiral Andrea Doria were built.
For the best sense of the enormity and activity of the harbor, as well as to see the big ships and the little Porticciolo Duca degli Abruzzi, used by yachts and sailing boats, hop onto one of the many harbor cruises.
