NOTICE SUMMER 2023: From Monday, July 3 until mid-August, subway service is suspended for track work. Subway service will be replaced by bus service.
Genoa is a city with a rather unusual shape. In fact, it stretches for several kilometres along the coastal strip but also has valleys running inland. For this reason, the city’s road system has always been a complicated issue, with different traffic directions not easily connected. Since the beginning of the 20th century, several proposals and plans were made to create an underground network that could partially solve this problem. After a century, even Genoa has its own metro, a single line connecting the north-west area of the city with the central-east area.
1. When to use the metro in Genoa
To reach the most distant points within the metropolitan area of Genoa, the train is still the most convenient means of transport, however, unlike other true urban rail services, this section is not autonomous and is therefore penalised by sharing the traffic flow with the national trains (freight and passengers) passing through Genoa.
Although the metro does not resolve this situation, since it only connects certain areas of the city, it is nevertheless an excellent compromise for those who need to move quickly to the centre, especially if arriving by train from outside Genoa: the Brignole and Principe metro stations are directly connected to the two railway stations of the same name.
The metro service runs from 5 a.m. until around midnight (with possible changes in the timetable with the summer service). The ticket is the same as for the bus.
2. Metro stops
The Genoa Metro currently consists of a single line that runs for 7 kilometres and connects 8 stations. The first to be inaugurated were ‘Brin’ and ‘Dinegro’ in 1990; then it took another 22 years to see the current line completed with the last connection between De Ferrari and Brignole station. Possible extensions and modifications, with the addition of new sections and stops, have been under discussion for some time.
BRIN
It is one of the two terminuses, the western one, located at Certosa in the Rivarolo district in the lower Polcevera Valley in the north-west of the city. It is an open-air station and together with the Dinegro stop was part of the very first section of the metro inaugurated in July 1990.
DINEGRO
This station is located in the San Teodoro district, a few hundred metres from the ferry terminal and therefore convenient if you are arriving or departing by ferry. Also from the terminal area starts the Parco della Lanterna di Genova (Genoa Lantern Park), a promenade through the historical industrial area of the port and leading to one of the symbols of the city.
PRINCIPE
It shares the same name with the nearby railway station. A few steps from the stop, we recommend a visit to the Palazzo del Principe and the Commenda di San Giovanni di Prè: the former is a 16th-century villa that was built as the private residence of the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, while the Commenda is a building from the Middle Ages that served as a reception centre (church, convent and hospice) for pilgrims passing through the city.
DARSENA
It is located on Via Gramsci, the city’s waterfront artery leading to the Porto Antico. From one entrance of this station you can walk to the Galata – Museo del Mare (Sea Museum), while from the exit on the other side of the street you are immediately immersed in Genoa’s historic centre, with the imposing bastions of Porta dei Vacca forming the entrance to the old city (here begins Via del Campo, the street made famous by Fabrizio De Andrè).
SAN GIORGIO
From this stop you can walk to the Aquarium of Genoa and the Porto Antico. Given its central location, it is convenient both for visiting the old city arriving from one of the train stations and for going back to catch the train at the end of your stay if you still want to experience the carruggi a little before leaving.
SARZANO SANT'AGOSTINO
A station mostly used by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, it is nevertheless close to some places of historical interest that are worth a visit: the museum of Sant’Agostino, a former 13th century convent that now houses a collection of works, mainly sculptures, from various historic buildings in the city that have disappeared; Campopisano, a small square of about 200 square metres with characteristic Genoese rissëu (mosaic) paving.
DE FERRARI
Here you are right in the centre of Genoa! De Ferrari is the city’s central square, overlooked by the beautiful Palazzo Ducale, the historic building that has become the hub where the most important cultural events are usually held over the past thirty years. In addition, the various city shopping streets (e.g. Via XX Settembre, Via XXV Aprile and Via Roma) branch off from De Ferrari.
BRIGNOLE
Here we come to the other terminus, the one located to the east. Like the Principe underground station, this stop is named after the railway station of the same name of which it is part. Given this connection, it is an excellent ‘stopover’ to use to travel from the city centre to the resorts of the Riviera di Levante, from Camogli to the Cinque Terre.
