The hinterland

Behind the coastal strip begins a Liguria almost no visitor sees: narrow valleys at right angles to the sea, chestnut woods, villages built entirely of grey stone, clinging halfway up the slope where the sun arrives first. Many have emptied out, and some have fewer than a hundred inhabitants.

It is the part of the region you go to when August on the coast becomes unbreathable. Half an hour of driving from the beach takes you to five or six hundred metres, and in the evening you want a jumper.

Where to go

In the Imperia area, the Val Nervia with Dolceacqua, Apricale and Pigna, and the Argentina valley with Triora, where in the sixteenth century Italy held its largest witch trial. In the Savona area the Beigua park, which climbs from the coast to a thousand metres in a few kilometres. In the Genoa area the Val Trebbia and the Aveto park, with its lakes and beech woods. In the La Spezia area the Val di Vara, which has turned to organic farming.

How to do it

The roads are narrow and full of hairpins: drive slowly and do not trust the satnav times. Campsites are very few, and are often farm sites with a handful of pitches. The Alta Via dei Monti Liguri crosses the whole hinterland along the ridge, and can be walked in stages by people without high-mountain equipment.