VIA SESTRI – PIAZZA BARACCA – VILLA ROSSI – (NOSTRA SIGNORA DEL GAZZO)
On foot: 30 min (Airport – Villa Rossi park) / 4 h Mount Gazzo excursion
Bus: 1, 172
Starting on foot from Genoa Airport, you can visit the nearby Marina Aeroporto and the Sestri Ponente district, a historic location for the Italian shipbuilding.
To reach Sestri Ponente from the city centre, take number 1 bus towards Voltri in Caricamento area (connection to route 4). You can also get to Sestri if you leave from Voltri (connection to route 13) and Pegli (connection to route 11) by taking the number 1 towards the centre.
Sestri is not only a quarter, it is also a small city inside the big city, a huge working-class heart inhabited by over 46,000 people who, when referring to the city centre, still use the phrase “going to Genoa”.
From the arrivals terminal of the airport, cross the parking area and on the left take via Pionieri e Aviatori d’Italia, then via Cibrario crossing Borgo alla Marina (if you want to reach the Marina Aeroporto on the other side of the pier, you can take via Pionieri e Aviatori to the end). Once past the tracks, take via Caterina Rossi which will lead you to via Sestri, the pedestrian artery and the commercial hub of the district. Via Sestri is a continuous passage of people between shops, bars and street food. You can stop in the shadow of the plane trees in Piazza Baracca, a melting pot of generations under the Nostra Signora Assunta basilica. Opposite the church, on the other side of the square, is the charming ‘music stage’ built in 1871. Via Sestri ends in Piazza Poch at the entrance to the park of Villa Rossi, where you can stroll through the greenery and see the 17th-century villa where the famous Empress Sisi stayed.
It may seem strange to say in an urban context, but Sestri Ponente can also be the starting point for a day of trekking. From here take the number 172 bus to the hospital, then continue on foot as you take Via Domenico Oliva. Cross the railway, and the tar will make way for earth and stones as it turns into a path. The walk to the top of Mount Gazzo (419 m, around 1 hour) is not too tiring, but it is not very relaxing either, so be prepared (go to this path and others Sestri Ponente’s hiking trails).
