Genoa strengthens its role on the international cultural and tourism scene with a highly prestigious recognition that marks a new phase in the enhancement of the city’s heritage. Indeed, in the year that marks the 20th anniversary of the inclusion of the Rolli in the UNESCO World Heritage List, comes yet another seal of global significance: the Strada Nuova Museums, which include Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Tursi, have been awarded 3 Michelin Stars in the Michelin Voyage et Cultures Guide. This is the highest level of rating provided by the Michelin system applied to cultural and tourist sites, a classification that identifies destinations that are “worth the trip.” A recognition that places Genoa’s museums alongside world-renowned institutions such as the Uffizi and the Vatican Museums, confirming the Ligurian city as a top destination on the international art and culture circuit.
The move to 3 Stars not only represents an award to the historical and artistic value of the Strada Nuova Museums, but is part of a broader context of the city’s transformation and renewal. In fact, the Michelin guide’s evaluation is not limited to considering the importance of the collections or the architecture of the buildings, but examines a multifaceted set of criteria that include the quality of hospitality, the management of tourist flows, and the overall ability to offer a memorable visitor experience. The Strada Nuova Museums thus represent a model in which heritage enhancement is combined with careful and contemporary management, capable of meeting the needs of an increasingly international and demanding public. The museum system is distinguished by its ability to bring absolute masterpieces of art history into dialogue with the architectural magnificence of the buildings that house them.
Within the collections are works by artists such as Caravaggio and Van Dyck, along with unique testimonies such as the famous violin that belonged to Paganini. This interweaving of art, history, and identity contributes to the construction of a cultural experience of great intensity, unfolding in spaces that are themselves an integral part of the UNESCO heritage of the Palazzi dei Rolli.
The recognition of the 3 Michelin Stars takes on even greater value when considering the very history of the rating system. For a hundred years, the Michelin Guide has been awarding its stars to cities and sites of tourist interest with the aim of guiding travelers, offering a reliable tool for identifying the most deserving destinations. In fact, 2026 coincides with the 100th anniversary of this rating system, making the milestone achieved by Genoa even more symbolic.
The Michelin rating is based on an objective weighting of nine criteria, including first impression, site notoriety, richness of cultural or natural heritage, historical importance, beauty, authenticity, quality of management and maintenance, and quality of welcome and visitation. It is a set of parameters that aims to return a complete picture of the experience offered to the visitor, going beyond simple aesthetic evaluation.
“As an athlete, this is our gold medal at the Olympics,” says Mayor Silvia Salis. “’Worth the trip’ is what every city would like to hear. Let me thank those who make this possible, so all the women and men who work in the world of culture, museums, those who make it possible for this city to be welcoming, for these assets to be cared for every day, and caring for them does not mean hiding them, keeping them away from people, it means opening them to the city and to the outside, open them to the world, but in the right way, so protect them by showing them, and this I think is the balance that every city, which has a treasure like this, has to find. We are all very excited and honored; what I can tell you is that this administration will do everything to make sure that this city will be enhanced, in its possibilities, and be a welcoming city for those who come from all over the world, so that those who come to Genoa can say that it was really worth the trip. We will continue to work for this, aware of the honor we have, to be able to administer one of the most beautiful places in the world.”
“The thing that strikes me the most, and that perhaps does not immediately transpire for those who are not inside the historical-artistic dynamic,” says Giacomo Montanari, alderman for culture, “is the fact that Genoa is finally being recognized, vis-à-vis those who come to visit it, at the level of the great international centers of art. It is something that we, and I say this by borrowing words from Raffaella Besta, but also from all those who came before her, from Piero Boccardo, from Romagnani, from the many masters who have studied this city and have always supported it, and I believe that this moment is a moment of arrival, certainly of celebration, of joy of comparison, but also a moment of challenge and proposal for the future: what can we with this city on a cultural level? How much can we be a reference point, not only for the world of tourism? The city has wanted to do, to build itself as a welcoming city, which means not only giving spaces but also nourishing the people who come to visit with content. These stars are not an award for us but they are an indication for those who want to take an opportunity, to enter and learn about a different reality and get involved in a cultural narrative through objects. The objects that are there and that have, however, need someone to make them alive, to participate. I think it is also fair to say that Genoa is not worth a trip from today but worth a trip for a long time.”
“This recognition also represents a fundamental step for the tourism positioning of Genoa internationally,” stresses Tourism Councillor Tiziana Beghin. “The 3 Michelin Stars at the Strada Nuova Museums certify our city’s ability to offer a cultural experience of the highest level, increasingly integrated with the reception, services and promotion of the territory. It is a result that reinforces the overall attractiveness of the Genoa destination and rewards a strategy that focuses on quality, innovation and the enhancement of our widespread heritage. We will continue to work to intercept new tourist flows, national and international, and to transform this prestigious recognition into concrete opportunities for economic growth and sustainable development for the entire city.”
“The recognition of the 3 Michelin Stars for the Strada Nuova Museums,” says Chamber of Commerce Deputy Vice President Alessandro Cavo, “confirms that even in tourism Genoa has decisively chosen the path of quality. It is a strategy that, as Chamber of Commerce, we have been advocating for a long time: focusing on excellence of offer, care of reception and visitor experience. This result shows that investing in quality means making the area more competitive and attractive internationally. A particularly important role in this path is played by the French public, which is stably one of the main, and often the first, foreign market for Genoa. It is a public attentive to cultural quality and very sensitive to the value of Michelin guides. Strengthening this link means intercepting an increasingly qualified and aware tourism and dialoguing with the most evolved markets.”
“Genoa,” said Philippe Orain, director general of the Michelin Guides, “is one of the most beautiful cities that is on the Mediterranean: it is a city that I see more and more, lately, with a strong link between heritage, territory and community, with a sense of inclusiveness that visitors also like. This is what we need to continue to do, along with revealing more and more of the hidden beauties, and there are still many in the city, starting, for example, with Villa delle Peschiere: all this makes Genoa have the three stars. The stars are awarded according to criteria, noted from zero to five, and they are almost at five on everything and particularly, lately, on the quality of the welcome and the quality of the visit, thus the visitor experience. The new criteria for Michelin stars are universal. First of all, these stars are made for visitors, to help them choose, so: three stars - worth the trip, two stars - worth the detour, one star - worth the visit if you are on site. So, why three stars at the Strada Nuova Museums? Already the ensemble is outstanding, but it had been for a while: among the criteria there is one that is very important which is that of intrinsic value and it allows you to compare one place to the other, based also on the last two criteria which are the quality of the reception and the quality of the visit, and that is the one that has made the difference lately, which has allowed, comparing the pole with other museums, that they are worth the trip more. The criterion of patrimonial wealth was already fulfilled however there is also the way of telling them, the way of displaying them, and also the itinerary, a journey through the history of Genoa, and that one understands better and better. That’s why the Strada Nuova Museums get the three stars like the Brera and Capodimonte picture galleries, the Vatican Museums, the Louvre and many museums, including contemporary art museums, because we don’t only make the stars for ancient heritage but also for living and current heritage.”
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| Genoa earns 3 Michelin Stars: Strada Nuova Museums among destinations worth the trip |
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