An expedition down the Toce river reveals that the Orridi di Uriezzo are actually quite beautiful One of the main forces that have shaped the landscape of the Ossola valleys is water. During the last ice age, all valleys – main valley and seven side valleys – were covered by approx. 1 km of ice…
D is for Domodossola This week, we are off for a few days of hiking in the northern Italian Ossola Valley (near the Swiss border), but before we put on our boots for the more “serious stuff”, we went for a brief walk through the town of Domodossola, our base for the duration of our stay….
More places to discover on our walk through the land that time forgot. Villages along the Italian Riviera In our last post, we took you down the Riviera memory lane from San Lorenzo to Santo Stefano. Today, we shall hike further down the coast, passing through more villages along the Italian Riviera that have become…
From Imperia to Bordighera, there is a stretch of Italian Riviera villages that have become unstuck in time All the small coastal towns between San Lorenzo al Mare and Santo Stefano look as though they had retreated into a time capsule, a little like the New England hamlet in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village”, with…
What does a hiking festival in Italy need to do to attract the punters? Serve a five-course lunch along the way, for example – and do not skimp on the wine Not everybody loves hiking in large, organized groups, … … but whatever their drawbacks, these “hiking festivals” clearly have their advantages, too. One such…
The Piemontese hills may provide a picturesque backdrop, but it is in the flat countryside where the city’s lifeblood flows To the casual observer, it may seem that the countryside in and around Turin is mainly Alpine in nature. The Alps indeed seem to be everywhere … … but while they undoubtedly attract the eye,…
Meet two of modern Italy’s founding fathers, a two-faced royal mansion and the world’s tallest museum In addition to the San Michele hike from our last post, we have prepared two more tours in Turin for you: one “town” walk and one “country” walk, both of them relatively short (with lengths of two to three…
The Sacra di San Michele near Turin is Northern Italy’s grandest and most sacred abbey. Italy’s industrial heartland lies within a triangle formed by Genoa, Milan and Torino, but, this being Italy, these three great industrial towns are hardly the equivalent of Dortmund, Manchester or Cleveland and pack a powerful “triple punch” of beautiful architecture,…
This small Riviera seaside town has something for every hiker: two legs, three legs or four This past winter, we have been exploring hiking trails on our local coast, on either side – French as well as Italian – of the Riviera, and what better place to end this series of walks, as the winter…
Apricale may well be the most beautiful but is certainly the most visually stunning of all the towns on the Ligurian hills. It is not only picturesque but also a great base for hiking trips into the Riviera’s mountainous hinterland. Growing out of the cliffside like something perhaps not altogether benign … … the town…
