The Alta Via dei Monti Liguri in the Beigua Backcountry

The Liguria everyone knows is that of the coast: beaches, seaside villages, packed trains and parking impossible to find in summer. Few realise that you need only lift your gaze towards the mountains to find an opposite world, made of windswept ridges, beech woods and almost empty pastures. It is here that the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri runs, and the stretch crossing the Beigua Park and Geopark is among the most spectacular and unjustly ignored.

The Beigua massif

Beigua is a massif that looks directly out onto the sea, between the provinces of Savona and Genoa. Its distinctiveness is geological and scenic at once: the ridge marks the watershed between the Tyrrhenian and the Po-valley slopes, and on clear days you can see, at the same time, the Ligurian Sea and, beyond the plain, the chain of the Alps with Monviso and Monte Rosa. It is a view that repays every climb and that very few, focused on the beaches below, bother to seek out.

The Alta Via crosses the park's territory, touching its landmark points. Monte Beigua, which gives its name to the massif, is one of the main peaks and a natural belvedere. Along the ridge you come across high-altitude grasslands, upland wetlands, beech woods and rocky outcrops that tell the geological history recognised by the Geopark label. The route also touches passes and localities of the hinterland such as the area of Sassello and Arenzano, which serve as gateways to the trails.

Tailor-made hikes

You don't need to walk the whole Alta Via to savour its character. The beauty of Beigua is that it lends itself to day hikes or short traverses of a couple of stages, climbing from one side and descending the other, or returning to the same point on loop itineraries. The park's trail network connects to the Alta Via and lets you build tailor-made routes, from a gentle walk to the more mountaineering effort of the ridge stretches.

Getting there

To get here you take advantage of the very closeness to the coast, which here becomes an asset. Centres such as Arenzano, Cogoleto and Varazze on the sea, or Sassello in the hinterland, are bases reachable by car and partly by public transport, from which to climb to the trails. It is best to check with the visitor centre and the park authorities, which provide maps and up-to-date information on trail conditions. Being a ridge route, water can run short: better to set off well supplied.

When to go

The ideal time is the shoulder seasons. April and May bring blossom, green meadows and clear air after the rains; October offers the colours of the beech-wood foliage and often crystal-clear days, perfect for the double sea-and-mountain view. These are also the months when the coast is still, or once again, quiet, but above all the upland trails stay empty: those who visit Liguria in spring or autumn head for the villages, not the ridge. Summer, on the other hand, can bring haze that wipes out the panorama and heat on the exposed stretches.

One factor not to underestimate is the wind. Beigua is one of the windiest places in Liguria, and on the ridge the gusts can be strong even in fine weather: a windproof jacket is indispensable in every season. The weather, moreover, changes fast because the massif intercepts the humid currents from the sea, and the golden rule is to check the forecast before setting off.

A practical tip: pick a day of northerly wind, when the air is clearest, and get up onto the ridge early in the morning. It is in those hours that the double view opens up, with the sea on one side and the Alpine barrier on the other, and that you'll understand why it is worth leaving the beach to everyone else.