Stage 3 – Following your feet

Via della Costa – Conclusion

Spectacular villages nested on mountains or clinging to the coast, pastel coloured house, rugged coastlines, sandy beaches, high mounts and great food on top. What more could anybody setting off on a hike want? Starting March 5th 2024, I walked for 16 days, 3 in France along the Via Aurelia and 13 in Italy along…

Pictures from Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre, the five towns, is a string of five ancient fishing villages clinging to the coastline, surrounded by mountains (up to ca. 800m). The tiny villages were until recently linked only by mule tracks and accessible only by rail or water. Beyond the five villages, Cinque Terre is also a National Park and a…

Day 51: Levanto to La Spezia

Changed plans, a thousand or more steps, the sun above but cloud below and the highest elevation profile of the whole trip. The original plan was to walk from Levanto, to the first of the five villages in Cinque Terre and then walk along the coast from village to village. Unfortunately, the paths along the…

Day 50: Sestri Levante to Levanto

30km on another beautiful day for walking, 1300m elevation, 40% inclines and walking through a 5km long tunnel. I suppose it is a sign of just how fabulous the views have been throughout this trip, that one eventually can hardly be bothered to take my camera out of its clip on my daypack, to take…

Day 49: Camogli to Sestri Levante

A great day in the sun, lots of ups and downs, beautiful towns and a night in a historic home, and not to forget, burnt cream and sugar for dessert. Today was a long day, 33kms and 1166m elevation. I took the train from Genova station, conveniently close by, to Camogli. The train was delayed,…

Day 48: Genova to Camogli

Short 21km walk to Camolgli. Mostly road walking in rain, but wow, the towns I passed and visited were fantastic. When I planned the trip, I had built up an expectation that today it would be sunny. Every picture of Camogli I have seen, the sun was shining. I’d planned a short day, so Lene…

Pictures of Genova

Today I should have walked 20km from the Genova neighbourhood Voltri, where I finished yesterday, to the centre of the city. The walk would have taken me along the coast past the container docks, the airport and the massive cruise ship terminal. Instead, I decided to walk the 19km, but sightseeing in Genova. The owner…

Day 47: Celle Ligure to Genova (Voltri)

A closed tunnel causses a 3km detour and an unexpected Milan-San Remo cycle classic. Today should have been an easy 20km trip along the coast with next to no ascent. Thanks to a closed tunnel, I had a more than 3km detour, including a number of climbs, so I ended up with over 400m ascent.…

Day 46: Spotorno to Celle Ligure

Don’t trust the weather forecast. I did 🙁 . Wild boar, Danish art by Asger Jorn and Olmo bicycles. A shorter walk today, 23 km and a mere 538m in ascent. The day started in the forest before reaching the coast and staying there through Savona and onto Celle Ligure. The weather forecast said cloudy,…

Day 45: Alassio to Andora/Finale Ligure to Spotorno

The Italian wall of fame, miniature cakes and new baked biscuits in the middle of nowhere. A sunny day, walking 28kms and an ascent of 890m. On day 6 I finished walking in Andora, but started day 7 in Alassio (where we are were staying). Today I walked the 12kms from Alassio to Andora, whereafter…

Day 44: Alassio to Finale Ligure

Today I could really feel the breath of history underfoot during the 30km with 794m ascent walk to Finale Ligure. Yesterday I finished in Andora and spent the night ca. 10km further along the trail outside Alassio. So today I started just 50m from where we were staying, and will walk the missing kilometers between…

Day 43: Torrazza to Andora

A long day with long climbs, closed churches, wet feet and a black pizza. After a good nights sleep and fine breakfast, I left Lene in Torrazza and set off down the hill from the village, passing the villages other church (even the smallest village seems to have two churches) and crossing the Prino River…

Day 42: San Remo to Torrazza

Today I suffered for my breakfast choice, found a packed church at 11am on a Monday, got wet feet despite no rain, walked through 5 hill top villages and missed Lene by 200m. All in all, a pleasant days walking in primarily cloudy conditions, no rain, 32km and 1080m ascent. I had taken a croissant for…

Day 41: Menton to San Remo

My first day walking in Italy, and a missed opportunity which could have made a not particularly inspiring walk more interesting! In France I was walking the GR653A, also known as Via Aurelia, whilst in Italy, the path continues as the Via della Costa. It will be interesting to see the difference – if any.…

Day 39: Laghet to Menton

Nostalgic in Menton, great views over the rich and famous in Monaco and Cap-Martin and rain. Today we said goodbye to Maggie and Göran and their fantastic hospitality over the past six days. Lene drove me to Laghet and the Sanctuaire Notre Dame de Laghet. Today’s destination was Menton, on the border between France and…

Day 38: Gattiers, La Manda Bridge to Laghet

Another beautiful day for walking. Yet another day over 1.000m in ascent (1040m) and an achievable distance of 25kms despite the ups and downs. As with day 1, I had decided to take this leg in reverse, so Lene drove me to the Sanctuarie Notre-Dame de Laghet, in the mountains between Nice and Monaco. There…

Day 37: Roquefort to Gattiers, La Manda

We were staying with our Swedish friends, Maggie and Göran, from our time in France – our first return to the Cote d’Azur since 2014. After a good breakfast, Maggie, Göran, Lene and I drove to the La Manda bridge in Gattiers, walking this stage in reverse. It was a glorious day for walking. We…