HILLY AND CYCLE WAYS

Alassio: Not Just Another Beach Town

Nature has endowed Alassio with a coastline of fine natural sand and a hillside full of olive groves, chestnut trees and fragrant Mediterranean scrub.
Small hamlets dot the hillside with colourful houses and narrow alleys leading down to the sea. Here, life moves at a pace of yesteryear and the scents coming from the windows are reminiscent of ancient Ligurian recipes. Every window is decorated with lush flowers and you can still hear the voices of children coming from the small secret gardens of their homes.

A walk to the two hamlets, Moglio and Solva, is a nice alternative to beach life. You don’t need any special sporting skills, just a supply of water, a map and a lot of curiosity.

Another hilly route that will make you fall in love with the breathtaking views it offers is the VIA JULIA AUGUSTA which leads from the small church of Santa Croce to the nearby town of Albenga, along a dirt road, in places with cobblestones from the Roman era. If you want a more detailed description of the excursion, click here and you will be directed to our blog article, entirely dedicated to the Via Julia Augusta.

• DIFFICULTY 1
• LENGTH 5,500 m
• WALKING TIME: 2 hours
• DEPTH: 100 mt

HAMLET OF SOLVA

Solva is a small village perched on a hill, with a handful of houses, a small square and a church with 15th-century frescoes.
You can reach the hamlet by asphalted road or by the mule track that you take from the uphill side of Via Milano/Piazza Stalla. The second, though more strenuous, is the most romantic: eucalyptus, carob and maritime pine trees offer shelter from the summer sun and bougainvillea hedges fill the eyes and heart with warm colours. Over the centuries, women with panniers full of garden produce to sell at the market and men with their donkeys laden with fish, coral and fishing nets have passed through here.

• DIFFICULTY 1
• LENGTH 2.800 mt
• WALKING TIME: 2 hours
• DEPTH: 510 mt

HAMLET OF MOGLIO

Centrally located on the hillside, it is an important starting point for countless walks.
Moglio can also be reached either by asphalted road or by mule track; the climb is demanding, but the effort is rewarded by the many panoramic views you will find along the way. As it is a most populated hamlet than Solva, once you reach the small square, you can take a short break and enjoy a drink at the village bar.
The uphill route starts out protected among dry stone walls, strips of olive trees, villas and greenhouses and climbs at a medium-high gradient.

• DIFFICULTY’ 1
• LENGTH: 4.300 mt
• WALKING TIME: 2 hours
• DEPHT: 585 mt

MADONNA DELLE GRAZIE

The route starts in Piazza S. Ambrogio and climbs up a medium-high incline from Via Michelangelo. Like the previous ones, the mule track runs between boundary walls, villas and strips of olive trees.
This route follows the romantic footsteps of Adelasia (daughter of Emperor Otto I) and her squire Aleramo, who fled for love and settled in this part of our hill.
The oldest town coat of arms, depicting Adelasia on a tower, was found in the small church of Madonna delle Grazie.
History-nature-love trail…

• DIFFICULTY: 1
• LENGHT: 3.000 mt
• TWLKING TIME: 2 hours
• DEPHT: 390 m

AND NOW… WE RIDE…

The long lockdown allowed the volunteers to do a good maintenance of all the paths in the area, which are even more pleasant to walk, mountain bike or e-bike on.

If you have come on holiday without your beloved bicycle, ask the reception for the contact details in the area for hiring these vehicles. It will be an alternative day to sea life and you will be enchanted.

This is a sporty cycling itinerary that aims to provide a new tourist service to be offered all year round for a new formula of active vacations. The itinerary, which is constantly maintained, includes a 22 km marked route on an asphalt road that winds through the hills surrounding the city of Alassio. There are also 4 off-road variants

ALASSIO CYCLEWAY

• Variant n. 1 length 4 km, difficulty Blue.
• no. 2 length 4.2 km, difficulty Blue
• no. 3 length 11 km, difficulty Red
• and no. 4 length 12 km, difficulty Blue

The Alassio Ciclovia project, with its off-road variants designed for E-bike lovers along with the other paths already present, is composed of paths partly on asphalt and partly on beaten earth, which can be combined according to one’s abilities and goals. It allows one to easily climb up to the highest and most spectacular point of Alassio, the Madonna della Guardia, from where one can admire the dual significance of the city’s territorial position: the coastline with the beach and the sea on one side and, on the opposite side, the Maritime Alps, the starting point of the famous “Via del Sale”.