Paraggi is a small bay on the Riviera di Levante, situated between Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino on the SP 227 di Portofino, within the municipality of Santa Margherita Ligure. It contains what is, by common agreement, the finest sandy beach in the Portofino area — significant because nearly every other shore on this stretch of the Ligurian coast is rocky. The bay faces south-southeast, receives direct sunlight through most of the day, and is enclosed by wooded headlands on both sides. Its water clarity is exceptional even by Ligurian standards, a consequence of the bay’s proximity to the Area Marina Protetta di Portofino and a local buoyed exclusion zone that prohibits motorised navigation within the bay itself.
As a wedding destination, Paraggi operates differently from a conventional venue. There is no single building that functions as a dedicated wedding hall. Instead, the bay offers a constellation of elements — the beach, the private beach club Bagni Fiore with its Langosteria restaurant, the boutique Eight Hotel Paraggi, and the backdrop of the Castello di Paraggi on the eastern headland — that a wedding planner assembles into a programme across the day. The setting is intimate by structural necessity: the beach is narrow, the access is controlled, and the atmosphere is naturally contained. Paraggi works for couples who want a wedding that is genuinely coastal — not a terrace with a sea view, but salt water, sand underfoot, and open sky.
Paraggi Bay lies at coordinates 44°18′40″N 9°12′32″E, approximately 2.5 km northeast of Portofino and 3 km southwest of Santa Margherita Ligure by road. The SP 227 di Portofino — a 12.8 km coastal road running from Rapallo to Portofino — passes directly behind the bay, giving Paraggi its character as an accessible yet enclosed space: visible from the road and from passing boats, but sheltered within its own headlands.
The water quality at Paraggi is formally protected by the Area Marina Protetta di Portofino (AMP di Portofino), established by Ministerial Decree on 26 April 1999. The reserve covers approximately 346–376 hectares across the municipalities of Santa Margherita Ligure, Portofino, and Camogli, and is structured into three graduated zones. Zone A (integral reserve, strictest protection) includes areas such as Cala dell’Oro; Zone B (general reserve) covers sections off Punta Chiappa; Zone C (partial reserve, including areas adjacent to Paraggi) permits controlled recreational use — swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, and sailing. The reserve protects red coral colonies, coralligenous seabeds, Posidonia meadows, and some of the highest marine biodiversity on the northern Mediterranean coast. In addition to the marine reserve, a local buoyed exclusion zone prevents motorised vessel entry into Paraggi Bay directly, which is why the bay’s water is free of the boat traffic that disturbs other Portofino-area beaches.
The beach itself is the only genuinely sandy beach near Portofino. It is narrow — approximately 300 metres long at its widest, with a limited depth between water and road — which is part of why events here remain intimate. Approximately 90% of the beach is administered by private beach clubs; a small public section (spiaggia libera) exists at one end. The four private beach clubs operating at Paraggi are Bagni Fiore, Le Carillon, Bosetti, and Eight (associated with Eight Hotel).
The most visually distinctive element of Paraggi Bay is the Castello di Paraggi, which sits on the eastern headland closing the bay. It is strictly private and cannot be visited internally, but its presence defines the visual character of the setting — any ceremony photograph taken from the beach includes it.
The castle was constructed from 1626 by the Republic of Genoa as a coastal defence installation, built to resist piracy and prevent plague-carrying ships from landing on the Tigullio coast. Its architecture reflects this defensive origin: a massive stone structure with a square floor plan, four bracketed corner turrets, and Guelphic crenellation (rectangular merlons) along the parapet. A large loggia opens on the south-eastern facade. French imperial forces occupied it between 1812 and 1814 during the Napoleonic period.
In approximately 1882, British expatriate Frederick Brown acquired the then-disused castle and began a transformation into a private residence. A restoration dated to 1890 saw the original defensive moat along the cliff edge filled in and the loggia added. In the 1970s–80s, the property passed to Carlo Bonomi; current ownership is held by Anna Bonomi Campanini of Milan. In the 1990s, the Bonomi family rented the castle to Silvio Berlusconi’s family, making it one of the more photographed private residences on the Italian Riviera during that period. The castle remains entirely private.
Bagni Fiore (Via Paraggi a Mare, Santa Margherita Ligure) is the principal wedding and event venue at Paraggi beach. It was founded in 1927, making it one of the oldest operating beach clubs on the Ligurian Riviera. Its guest list over the decades has included Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, and Elizabeth Taylor.
In 2017, the Gruppo Langosteria — the Milan-based luxury seafood restaurant group — took over operations and installed Langosteria Paraggi as the in-house restaurant. Langosteria’s first restaurant on Via Savona in Milan had by then become one of the most-visited seafood tables in Italy; the Paraggi outpost operates as a pieds-dans-l’eau dining experience directly facing the bay. The menu focuses on raw seafood, crudo preparations, and Ligurian fish dishes.
In June 2022, Dior used Bagni Fiore as the setting for its Dioriviera summer activation, covering bar, lounge, beach cabins, sunbeds, cushions, and parasols in a leaf-green toile de Jouy pattern and operating a temporary Dior spa at the water’s edge. The partnership illustrated the kind of brand that now associates itself with Paraggi as a setting.
Bagni Fiore explicitly accommodates weddings, birthdays, press events, and bespoke functions. The venue provides a dedicated team including chef and in-house service staff. The combination of the Langosteria kitchen, the beachfront terrace, and the bar (Bar Fiore) gives a wedding at Bagni Fiore access to a quality of catering that goes well beyond what most beach venues can offer.
Eight Hotel Paraggi is a 19th-century restored villa positioned directly on the bay, with 12 rooms and suites and its own beach concession. It is the only hotel situated on Paraggi beach itself. The scale — 12 rooms, boutique positioning — means that a wedding group booking most or all rooms creates an effectively private environment for the event. Eight Hotel handles weddings and events on-site, with the option of using their beach section for the ceremony and their indoor and terrace spaces for&�he reception.
A typical full-day wedding using Paraggi as its centrepiece follows a programme that spans the beach, the beach club, and a nearby civil ceremony venue. A common structure:
The physical constraint of the beach — narrow, with access via a single road or by boat — naturally shapes the event. Groups arrive and depart in waves rather than all simultaneously. For a wedding group travelling from Portofino harbour by private water taxi, the arrival at the beach has a cinematic quality that organised overland transport cannot replicate.
Legal civil ceremonies cannot be conducted on the beach itself under Italian law. A legally binding ceremony must be performed by a public official (the Mayor or delegated registrar) at a designated civil registry venue. For couples marrying in this area, the two principal options are:
Many destination couples who are already legally married in their home country choose a symbolic ceremony on the beach with no civil registration requirement in Italy. This removes the documentation complexity and allows the full ceremony to take place at Bagni Fiore or Eight Hotel. Current arrangements and documentation requirements should be confirmed directly with the Comune di Santa Margherita Ligure and with the wedding planner coordinating the event.
No official seated capacity figure is published for beach ceremonies at Paraggi. Based on the physical dimensions of the beach club terrace and beach sections, and comparable Italian beach ceremony configurations:
These figures are operational estimates; actual licensed capacity for each configuration should be confirmed directly with Bagni Fiore (info@bagnifiore.com) or Eight Hotel Paraggi before planning.
Paraggi operates at the premium end of the Italian Riviera market. Individual beach lounger pricing at Bagni Fiore runs approximately €170–240 per day in high season; a buyout for an event reflects this premium positioning. Indicative 2026 market ranges for a full wedding event at Bagni Fiore (ceremony + aperitivo + dinner for 30–80 guests) typically fall in the range of €15,000–€50,000+ for the venue and catering element, depending on guest count, menu selection, and whether a full Langosteria dinner service is included. Accommodation at Eight Hotel and nearby Belmond properties adds to the overall budget. These figures are market orientations only; actual pricing is provided by the venues based on the specific programme.
Bagni Fiore and the Paraggi beach clubs operate seasonally, typically from late April or early May through September or October. The rooftop terrace at Eight Hotel and outdoor event spaces at both venues follow the same seasonal availability.
Paraggi’s accessibility is one of its defining logistical characteristics — the beach is reachable by road, on foot, and by water, but each option has constraints that shape how a wedding group should plan arrivals.
The nearest train station is Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino, on the Genoa–La Spezia line. International guests typically arrive via Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA), approximately 40–45 minutes by road, or via Milan (Malpensa or Linate), approximately 2 hours.
For a wedding party distributed across nearby properties, the options by proximity:
No — legal civil ceremonies must be conducted by a public official at a designated civil registry venue under Italian law. For couples marrying at Paraggi, the primary option for the civil ceremony is Villa Durazzo in Santa Margherita Ligure (the Comune that administers Paraggi), a 17th-century villa operating as the official ceremony venue with capacity up to approximately 100 guests. Many destination couples choose a symbolic ceremony on the beach instead, particularly if they are already legally married at home. Current civil ceremony arrangements should be confirmed directly with the Comune di Santa Margherita Ligure.
Bagni Fiore is the principal private beach club at Paraggi, founded in 1927. Since 2017 it has been operated by Gruppo Langosteria, with Langosteria Paraggi as the in-house restaurant — a pieds-dans-l’eau seafood dining experience directly facing the bay. The venue accommodates weddings, private functions, and bespoke events with a dedicated team including chef and service staff. Contact: info@bagnifiore.com / +39 0185 284831.
Approximately 90% of Paraggi beach is administered by four private beach clubs (Bagni Fiore, Le Carillon, Bosetti, and Eight). A small spiaggia libera (public beach) section exists at one end of the bay. For a wedding event using the Bagni Fiore or Eight Hotel beach concession, the relevant section of beach is private to those clubs’ guests during operating hours.
The Castello di Paraggi, built from 1626 by the Republic of Genoa as a coastal defence installation. It has a square floor plan with four bracketed corner turrets and Guelphic crenellation. Acquired circa 1882 by British expatriate Frederick Brown and restored as a private residence by 1890; it passed to the Bonomi family (Carlo Bonomi) in the 1970s–80s and is currently owned by Anna Bonomi Campanini. The Berlusconi family rented it in the 1990s. The castle is strictly private and not open to visitors, but is visible from the beach and from the water.
By private water taxi from Portofino harbour (1.6 km, ~10 minutes) or Santa Margherita Ligure marina (~20 minutes) — the recommended arrival method for the wedding party itself. By bus line 82/782 from Santa Margherita Ligure train station (~15 minutes), with a stop directly at the beach. On foot from Portofino via the Passeggiata dei Baci (~20–25 minutes). For groups, pre-arranged shuttle services from Santa Margherita Ligure are the standard logistics solution, as parking at Paraggi is severely limited in high season.
Two reinforcing factors: proximity to the Area Marina Protetta di Portofino (established 1999, covering ~346 hectares with Zone C protections including the Paraggi area), and a local buoyed exclusion zone that prohibits motorised navigation within the bay itself. Both prevent the boat traffic and seabed disturbance that cloud the water at less protected beaches.
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