Monterosso and Levanto on the trails

Monterosso is the first of the Cinque Terre, coming from the west, and is the starting point of some spectacular trails. The free trekking route for the panoramic Mesco Punta and Levanto has little to envy to the paid path for Vernazza , even if you really talk about wonderful places.
Monterosso is the only village of the Cinque Terre with two large beaches, divided by the small promontory of the Cappuccini hill.

The longest beach is that of Fegina, where the train station is located.

After admiring Monterosso, you can head to the western part of the village, at the bottom of the beach of Fegina, from where the path to Levanto starts. The beginning, actually, is an asphalt road, cut into certain points from steep staircases (sometimes closed for landslides). Exceeded in a hurry the asphalt, the trek begins to enter the holm oaks and the Mediterranean scrub, giving a beautiful meaning to the fatigue accomplished.

Going up again, the panorama widens to allow you to admire all the five lands and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto in the background. If you go along the path to November, you can also refrain from strawberries, orange-red fruits (when mature) of which you can see lots of plants along the route.

November is really a month for this trekking, but all year is suitable, apart from the summer days too hot. Thanks to the evergreen vegetation, winter also has beautiful colors.

When you arrive at an altitude of 300 meters, a sign indicates San Antonio del Mesco, a ruin of an ancient church. You can also take this short deviation to admire some other splendid panorama. In general, the entire hiking itinerary is very well signposted and the path in excellent condition.

From this point on the view no longer spaces on the Cinque Terre, but on the open sea. For those who are asking, the path can be traveled with equal enjoyment from Levanto in Monterosso. However, when the days are more short, I think it is preferable to follow the sun, walking from east to west, ie from Monterosso to Levanto as described here, so as to fully enjoy the hours of light.

Along the trekking, at certain points we are overlooking the sea (but always in absolute safety) and you can admire the clarity of the Ligurian Sea.

Another interesting point of the path is Podere Case Lovara, a villa FAI, which can also be visited, with its gardens overlooking the sea.

Approaching Levanto, you get to admire the whole coast west of Punta Mesco: in particular, you can notice the cliffs of the Bonassola, Moneglia promontor, Sestri Levante and, more and more in the distance, Portofino. On the clearest winter days, the snow-covered peaks of the Maritime Alps can be seen.

After two hours and a half of the trail you arrive in Levanto. Therefore, this itinerary is also suitable when you have little time, thanks to the many trains that connect Monterosso and Levanto. However, considering the exploration of Monterosso, the detour to San Antonio al Mesco, a picnic and a great desire to enjoy the views, you can safely spend twice the time along the way.

Even in Levanto you can dedicate time, admiring both the historic center and the walk to the sea and the beach.

From Levanto they leave both the cyclopedonal both i panoramic trails higher up to Bonassola and Framura. If you are good walkers and you don't like to lose yourself in the Ciance, you can only combine any part of these itineraries. Also Bonassola and Framura, in fact, are splendid, a bit like wide part of the Ligurian Riviera di Levante!
Punta Mesco, in fact, is an ideal observation point on Liguria, as can be seen from the following image ... A real invitation to explore all the wonderful towns east of Monterosso and West of Levanto!

This itinerary is one of the many trails between Genoa and Tuscany, all paths and all described to this Page on trekking in Liguria . To travel the entire west riviera to the east, the previous stage is that between Framura, Bonassola and Levanto , while the next route brings on Trails around Vernazza .

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