Val Nervia, the Stone Villages of the Ligurian Hinterland

The western Ligurian Riviera is famous for its crowded beaches and its grand names, from Sanremo to Bordighera. But leave the coast and climb the Nervia stream, and you enter another Liguria, the inland one, vertical and silent, where the villages cling to the rocks and the olive groves trace terraces almost up to the ridges. It is a hinterland a step from the French border that most tourists never even see, too busy hunting for a spot on the beach.

The villages

The gateway to the valley is Dolceacqua, the best-known and most photographed village, dominated by the Doria Castle and split in two by the famous humpbacked medieval bridge that Claude Monet painted during his Ligurian sojourns. The old part, called Terra, is a labyrinth of covered lanes and stone arches. Here you taste the michetta, the local sweet, and drink Rossese di Dolceacqua, the red wine of these hills.

Climbing up, you reach Apricale, perched on a spur so scenically that it looks designed. Its houses rise in tiers around the square and the Lucertola castle, and the alleys thread beneath the dwellings like tunnels. The village is also known for its lively artistic tradition, with workshops, murals and cultural initiatives that enliven the lanes without altering their nature, and for its summer evenings of open-air theatre in the little squares. Not far off is Isolabona, with its tower, and higher up Pigna, a concentric village overlooking the valley, facing its ancient rival Castel Vittorio. From Pigna you can carry on towards the small thermal baths and, for those who love the mountains, towards the trails that climb up to Monte Toraggio and Monte Pietravecchia, in the Ligurian Alps.

Slow travel

It is a valley made for slow travel. Ancient mule tracks and marked trails link the villages to one another, crossing olive groves, cultivated terraces and woods, and allow you to walk from one town to the next without touching the road. Those who prefer can travel by car, because the provincial road climbs the whole valley touching the main centres, but stops on foot in the villages are a must: cars stay outside the historic centres, too narrow and steep.

How to get there

To get there, the reference point is Ventimiglia, reachable by train along the coastal line from Genoa and from France. From Ventimiglia starts the road that climbs the Val Nervia, and there are local buses serving Dolceacqua, Isolabona, Pigna and the other centres, though with none-too-frequent services. To explore the villages and trails freely, a car is best, leaving the coast behind in a matter of minutes.

When to go

The best time to go is spring, between April and May, when the broom and the flowers colour the slopes, the days are long and mild but not yet hot, and the trails are perfect for walking. October, on the other hand, brings the golden light of autumn, the start of the olive harvest and clear air. In these months the nearby coast is already, or still, clogged with traffic and beach tourism, while the valley stays peaceful: in the alleys you meet more cats and elderly folk on the benches than organised groups.

A practical tip: put on comfortable shoes from the outset, because even just visiting the villages means climbing up and down steep stairways and uneven cobbles. Make the most of the village trattorias to taste the dishes of the Ligurian hinterland, from ravioli to the humble cooking of herbs and vegetables, and buy extra-virgin taggiasca olive oil directly from the valley's producers. And if you have an extra day, link Dolceacqua and Apricale on foot along the marked trails: it is the right way to understand that the Val Nervia is not a sum of villages to photograph, but a landscape to cross slowly.