For a classic introduction to Italy, cross over the French border into the Riviera di Ponente in north-west Italy, and head up its mountains into the unspoilt Ligurian countryside.
As the mountain road rises up from the coast – through hillsides covered with glasshouses, olive groves and steeply terraced vineyards – you turn a bend and suddenly sight the ancient medieval town of Ceriana, perched 1,211ft up high, its lanky stone houses huddled together on a hilltop.
A former Roman fort, the small town of around 1000 inhabitants is built in concentric rings around the hill, following the contours of the land and forming a collection of tall houses and narrow Genoa-style ‘caruggi’ alleyways connected by arches and vaulted passages, oratories and votive chapels. The spot to stop for an aperitivo is the Star Pub on Corso Italia, where all the friendly Cerianaschi gather early evening to mull over their day.
Continue up further through chestnut and oak woods popular with mushroom foragers, and you reach Baiardo. At an elevation of 3000ft, it is the highest village in Liguria and dubbed by the locals as ‘little Tibet’.
Climb to the highest point of the town and you are rewarded with panoramic views over the Armea valley and French Alps. Look out for stone obelisks, the remains of an ancient druid temple dedicated to the Celtic god Abellio, which attracts many a pilgrim.
Here you will also find what remains of the church of San Nicolo, built on top of the former Druid temple. The church was destroyed in an earthquake that caused the roof of the church to tragically collapse during a Sunday mass in 1887, killing 226 people.
On your way back down through the maze of narrows alleys and streets, be sure to stop for lunch at Ristorante Jolanda, which specialises in Ligurian dishes. Here lunch is a 3-hour affair – an ode to local seasonal ingredients such as freshly harvested porcini.
There isn’t a menu as such, just sit back and enjoy around eight delectable dishes such as gnocchi al burro e salvia, ravioli di verdura, wild boar alla cacciatora and rabbit with olives. Try to leave room for their house tiramisu, which is the perfect pick-me-up after this Ligurian feast.
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