Monesteroli

MONESTEROLI has a special place among the most beautiful places in Liguria, because it combines fantastic views and crystal clear sea with the difficulty of reaching it. The path that descends to Monesterols is in fact a long, steep and tiring staircase, but ideal if you want to train your breath and firm your buttocks! On this page we want to describe the itineraries to get to Monesteroli via land and by sea and how to enjoy the best of this jewel between Riomaggiore and Portovenere, revealing even a couple of really surprising "secrets".

We have already described monesteroli in two ways: whether by land by talking about the path from Riomaggiore to Portovenere , both by sea by writing canoates between the Cinque Terre e Portovenere . Make monerosteroli as a stage along the high street of the Cinque Terre from Riomaggiore to Portovenere, it is wonderful, but very strenuous (a thousand meters of total height difference!). We therefore see the other possibilities.

The starting point of the staircase for Monesteroli (path number 536) is located about 300 meters above sea level and must be reached through path 535. Therefore, the nearest places reachable by car are Fossola, the mountain Telegraph/Sant'Antonio, or Campiglia (which is the one better connected by bus). In all three cases, get to the beginning of the staircase is not very difficult and allows you to admire sublime views.

Fossola is located at an extreme of the path 535, Campiglia to the other; From Sant'Antonio, instead, you can go down to Fossola with the path 534, or use 504 to rejoin the itinerary that comes from Campiglia. If this option is perhaps the one with the most comfortable route, the one from the fossola is more spectacular.

Fossola is a tiny village that has nothing to offer if not a picturesque church, dream views and vineyards on the sea. In short, to pass is a great idea. The coastal path that from Fossola leads to the departure of the Monesteroli staircase presents some salts and come down. Below you, you will see the beach of Fossola.

The long staircase towards Monesteroli is not recommended for those who suffer from vertigo, but otherwise it is an excourion within the reach of all willing. The sublime views of the sea and towards the cliffs of sunsets and Portovenere must not distract you, though: look where you put your feet! The only difficult part is the final one: after passing the beautiful houses overlooking the sea, in fact, the path becomes more steeper and fransome.

The hiking itinerary ends up of the rocks on the sea, in front of the Montonium rock. Here you can take a bath in the crystal clear water (the beginning of autumn is a great season to go to Monesterols, because it doesn't do more hot for trekking, but water is still quite summer; all seasons, though , they have their charm, even the full winter when the air is very limpid).

Since the climb will be on the same path (my personal record: 20 minutes! A sweaty epic!), Enjoy the place before the lapse. In particular, climb to admire the resounding panorama from the Montonaire rock, where a pair of boats are rested. When you are here, you will realize that the most convenient way to get to Monesteroli is precisely a boat, or even a canoe from Riomaggiore, which is only 4 km away by sea

Exploring the surroundings to swimming, you can get to a cave on the sea in the cliff immediately behind the Montonium rock. Here the rock is franosa, so it takes prudence. However, from the cave freshwater gushes and forwarding it turns out that this long cave is actually the seat of a frosty underground stream. It seems that this stream runs into the heart of the mountain for hundreds and hundreds of meters: obviously the crolled boulders, as well as the darkness and the damp and potentially franosan rock, make it difficult if it is not impossible to venture later in the cave, but everything is very much Charming and a little mysterious, Stuff from Indiana Jones in a speleologist version.

The other "secret" of Monesteroli is that in this area comes from La Spezia (precisely from the Bugi) a 3,6 m kilometer gallery. This project dates back to the war and was then almost finished as a sewerage of La Spezia (crazy ideas!), Before luckily they changed my mind for too many aquifers involved. Someone recently hypothesized to replace this malidotta gallery for tourist purposes. Mmmh, doubts about it. In my opinion it is nice that these places remain so, uncomfortable to reach, not very attended, wild and with transparent water.

I also doubt that the gallery and the underground stream are somehow connected ... the mystery shows up!
In short, MONESTEROLI In addition to being a small paradise with a panoramic path is also a place full of surprises. It is also one of the most beautiful places in Liguria where to take a bath, despite the "beaches" are made only of great stones. If you love these stairways overlooking the sea, not far from Monesteroli there are also The path from Campiglia to Schiara and the itinerary For the perch and Le Rosses .

Good trips !!

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