Hinterlands

Albenga, Laigueglia, The caves of Toirano and Cervo

ALBENGA
Today the historic center of Albenga is an open-air museum that collects testimonies of the rich history of Ingaun. The centerpiece is Piazza San Michele surrounded by medieval, fourteenth-century and Renaissance buildings with its seven towers. Around it is a succession of small squares and noble buildings to be discovered by losing yourself in the thousand alleys enclosed within the ancient walls.

LAIGUEGLIA
It was an ancient fishing village and today it is a romantic town that closes the bay of Alassio to the West. Even today the center is characterized by narrow alleys, stairways and archways to be explored on foot. Today Laigueglia has become a destination for music lovers for its Jazz festival and for athletes for the Trofeo Laigueglia, the cycling race that opens the competition season in February.

THE CAVES OF TOIRANO
Here prehistoric men lived in condominiums with bears in these natural caves of the Varatella valley. The beautiful games of stalactites and stalagmites created by water and limestone in these caves that are undoubtedly among the most beautiful in northern Italy.

CERVO
Cervo, certified for years among “The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”, has preserved intact its very original characteristics of a medieval village on the sea, protected by sixteenth-century towers and walls and surrounded by green hills. The historic center can only be explored on foot and has been preserved with its buildings, centuries old, and its cobbled streets where you can find artisans' and artists' shops.

LA VAL NEVA which starts from Cisano sul Neva, and along the ancient Via del Sale leads to Zuccarell and Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena, two ancient villages that have preserved their medieval appearance intact.

VAL PENNAVAIRE, characterized by dolomitic rocks with marine fossils, olive and chestnut trees, high-altitude pastures and white cherry trees, culminates with Colletta di Castelbianco, a village abandoned for decades, today the subject of a restoration plan that makes it perhaps the first European telematic village.

LA LOWER VALLEY ARROSCIA with its good land gives many fruits to its farmers: grapes, peaches, roses, olives, mushrooms and chestnuts.

LA VAL LERRONE originates from Garlenda, one of the most elegant and quiet tourist resorts of the Riviera delle Palme, famous for its Golf Club and the Club delle 500 that organizes the rally every year for which cars from all over the world come.

The territory of the area is crossed by the Strada del vino e dell’olio dalle Alpi al mare that offers meetings with agritourism, agricultural and artisan companies and their typical products: wine, oil, cheeses and vegetables such as the trumpet courgette, artichokes, asparagus and beef heart tomatoes.