Walk This Way!

Fuelled by beef ragù, handmade salami, local wine and lots of espresso, Richard Holmes earns his kilojoules on a walking holiday through Italy’s Ligurian Apennines

- Richard Holmes

Legs scratched and dusty, sensible hat crumpled, and well-worn boots covered in mud, I must have looked a sight to the bikini-clad bathers on the shores of Camogli, a colourful little village on the Mediterranean coastline. I’d just walked close to 100 km through the countryside of Liguria, and if my knees hadn’t been shaking so much, I might have knelt down and kissed the pebbled beach. Instead, I simply stood and let the warm sea wash across the toes of my boots, an enormous smile on my face.

My travels through Italy had begun five days earlier. On the train heading south out of Milan, maize fields soon gave way to acres of rice paddies. Rice in the land of pasta? At first they caught me by surprise, until I remembered that Milan is the home of risotto.

Near the town of Pavia, famous for its medieval towers, we trundled across an old iron bridge, now officially into the Oltrepò Pavese: the land beyond (oltre) the Po River. It’s easy to see why this corner of Lombardy province has been dubbed “Little Tuscany”, with vineyards giving way to orchards that blend into olive groves.

The village of Mornico Losana was the first stop on my six-day walking tour up and over the Ligurian Apennines. For much of the way I’d be following the ancient Via del Sale, the “Salt Road” on which mule caravans brought valuable salt blocks from the coastline to the trading towns inland.

My first night is in the charming guesthouse of Paul Lizioli and his wife Arabella, and when dinner is served it’s the first hint that I won’t go hungry this week. We start with salami from the town of Varzi, then ravioli stuffed with borage and ricotta. To finish, there’s roast pork and baby marrow flowers sautéed with marrows from a friend’s garden. To drink, a bottle of vino frizzante, the local sparkling wine.