Italy – Page 3 – Following your feet

Day 137: La Spezia to Avenza

It rained off and on throughout the night, but had stopped by the time I got up at 7am and was eating breakfast at 7.30 breakfast. Italians like a sweet breakfast with lots of different cakes and croissants full of cream – whilst I love cakes, it isn’t my dream breakfast, preferring cornflakes and oatmeal…

Day 136: Copenhagen to Genoa and Voltri to Genoa

I left Copenhagen on the 9.20 flight to Amsterdam. With a very short connection to Genoa, I was hoping that there wasn’t going to be a delay. We boarded on time, but the first thing the captain said as I found my seat, was that there was traffic congestion in Amsterdam, and we would be…

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 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,…

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 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 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…