In my nearly quarter of a century of coming to Italy practically every year, I had not set foot in Genoa until this past November. My trip, with a base in Milan, revolved around various sights in Lombardy and Piedmont, but I felt that seeing Genoa was very much overdue, and I specifically included a day-trip to the Ligurian capital in my itinerary.

A bit to my surprise, the historic center of Genoa loosely reminded me of one of my favorite places in the world, Venice. Minus the canals, of course. The vehicular-traffic-free maze of narrow alleyways – called caruggi – that connect lovely small piazzas which are presided over by impressive buildings, projects a vibe of simultaneously finding oneself directionally lost and on the verge of the next exciting discovery. My amble around Genoa approximated that feeling - which I usually get only in Venice - to some degree.

I stopped by five Palazzi dei Rolli on my circuit. Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria Tursi are neighbors on Via Garibaldi and are combined on a single Musei di Strada Nuova ticket. Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Spinola are twinned on another ticket (although there are a few blocks of walking between the two).

Rosso is a contender for being the most impressive, especially if you don't forget to look up in every room - the ceiling frescoes are entirely splendid. There is also an unusual feature of a painted mezzanine – a low-ceilinged “second-and-a-half” floor with no less splendid decorations.

The interiors of Bianco and Doria Tursi are considerably more bland, and their rooms house various collections of decorative art. The garden must be the most notable feature of Bianco. Doria Tursi, aside from the inner courtyard, is primarily headlined by the dedicated Niccolò Paganini room, with a glass case displaying his Il Cannone violin, a 1743 Guarneri.

Palazzo Reale's most notable interior space is a grand ballroom that evokes Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, minus the crowds. As in any royal palace, you find plenty of additional stately rooms and outstanding pieces of furniture, art, and decor here, but if you've been to other royal residences throughout Europe, you may conclude that it's just ok (the ceilings are amazing nonetheless). An exhibition dedicated to Saint George – venerated throughout Italy but also expressly the patron saint of Genoa – in a separate section of the building is worth at least a quick walk-through for its wide-ranging collection of depictions of the saint and his signature dragon-slaying deed.

Spinola is another grand aristocratic residence, rivaling Rosso in ceiling paintings, and exhibiting quite a lot of additional components of the living space - the kitchen, the dining room, etc. Remnants of old frescoes and a staircase with antique maps are the bonus features that may even push Spinola above Rosso in my subjective ratings. It is also home to the National Ligurian Gallery, but that was closed for refurbishment on the day.

There are several impressive churches in the historic center, of which one standout, Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato, is located inside the inscribed core zone, but another, Cathedral of San Lorenzo, is only in the buffer zone. A few of the grandest public spaces - most notably, Piazza de Raffaele Ferrari - are outside even the buffer zone, which makes them no less worthy of stopping by when exploring Genoa. Taking the elevator up to Belvedere Castelletto is a nice detour for anyone enjoying elevated perspectives, although I have to admit that Genoa’s roofline is a bit of a jumble, with few easily recognizable landmarks and quite a few prominent modern edifices that I wish did not pollute the view.

Like any city of a reasonable size, Genoa no doubt can sustain more than a single-day attempt to explore. I hardly did it justice with roughly seven hours of an intraday visit. However, since the core WH zone is not too extensive, it is well possible to cover it on such a visit, even with multiple museum stops.