The Val Bormida cycle route between Liguria and Piedmont

Liguria, for almost everyone, is a thin line of coast. But you only have to climb up behind the back of Savona, beyond the Apennine watershed, to enter a world that has nothing to do with the beaches: the Val Bormida, a border land where the stream flows down towards Piedmont instead of the sea, where chestnut woods cover the slopes and where the chimneys of the old factories tell of a twentieth-century industry now extinguished. It is a hinterland that seaside tourism completely ignores, and precisely for this reason it keeps a melancholy, authentic charm, perfect for those who cycle in search of silence.

The valley

The axis of the journey follows the Bormida valley, from the Savona side to the gates of Piedmont and Acqui Terme, a spa town famous for its boiling spring, the Bollente, which bubbles up in the historic centre. Along the way you meet the villages of the valley such as Cairo Montenotte, Dego, Spigno Monferrato, towns that knew the era of the glassworks and chemical plants and that today display industrial archaeology and a disorienting stillness. Between one inhabited centre and the next you cross chestnut woods, cultivated hills and stretches of valley floor where the river traces quiet bends. Acqui Terme, with its baths and Roman aqueduct, is an arrival destination that repays the effort with a warm bath and good Monferrato cuisine.

The route

From a technical point of view it is a varied route and for the most part within the reach of a moderately fit cycle tourist. You ride mainly on low-traffic secondary paved roads, with possible variants on gravel for those who want to avoid the busier main-road stretches. It is not a flat valley: the valley floor has a gentle course, but to connect the hillside villages or to cross from one valley to another you tackle climbs of medium length, never extreme but constant. The overall effort is moderate and can be dosed by choosing whether to stay along the river or venture onto the more scenic hill roads. A touring bike or a gravel bike is the most versatile choice.

Getting there is easy: Savona is well connected and from there you climb up the valley, while Acqui Terme has a railway station, which lets you organise a point-to-point route climbing up from one end and returning by train from the other without having to retrace your steps.

When to go

The best period embraces the in-between seasons, roughly from spring to autumn. May and June bring lush green woods and meadows in flower, while autumn, up to October, sets the chestnut woods ablaze with warm colours and is the chestnut season, star of the village festivals. You avoid the crowds almost by definition: while the Ligurian coast bursts with tourists, here behind the mountain almost no one arrives, and on weekdays you can cover kilometres crossing paths only with the odd tractor. Summer is doable but muggier on the valley floor, and it is best to seek the shade of the woods during the central hours.

A practical tip: treat the abandoned industrial villages as part of the journey, not as an obstacle between one view and another. Stop to read the traces of the old factories, chat with the people you meet in the village bars, because it is there that the valley tells its true story. On the logistical side, reckon that services are concentrated in the main centres: stock up on water and provisions when you pass through Cairo Montenotte or the other larger towns, because between one village and the next, on the hill roads, you may find nothing open. And on arrival at Acqui Terme, treat yourself to a stop at the baths: it is the best way to loosen the legs after a day in this upside-down Liguria.