Hiking to Monte Bardellone by way of Soviore

We decide to hike over and up to Monte Bardellone, elevation 676 meters (2,217 feet) overlooking Levanto.  We start out by hiking up to Santuario Nostra Signora di Soviore (470 meters/1,541 feet above Monterosso), then follow a path slong the ridges, leading to a road back into the hills around Levanto.  We head up the direct path from Monterosso to Soviore.

Path to Soviore

Looking down at Monterosso

Watching a paraglider land on the Monterosso beach

We follow the road from Soviore southeast toward Il Termine, leaving the road just before Il Termine to join the AV5T trail heading north along the ridge.

Trails in many directions from Soviore

Just before we leave the road for the trail, we pass paragliders preparing to launch and fly toward the Monterosso beaches.

Paraglider launching

Trail along the ridge

Resting place for lunch with views

We pass a group exploring the trail on horseback (and watch out for the occasional souveniers left by the horses as they travel down the path).

Horses on trail

We are treated with occasional glimpses of Monterosso as we travel around it and transition across the ridge to overlook Levanto, the next town north.

Looking down on Monterosso

Continuing along the trail and onto the road

Looking down on Levanto

As we reach higher elevations, we are rewarded with expansive views across Levanto, the mountains, and the sea.

Great views

Old trail, new trail

Highlights along the trail

Returning, we descend into clouds that are rolling from the sea across the hills.  Our path follows the edge of the cloud bank and, occasionally, heads into a passing cloud, offering beautiful views of the inside and outside of clouds and glimpses of the sea and the towns of  Levanto and then Monterosso.

Clouds rolling in

We reach Soviore and return to Monterosso by way of the direct path, still passing by and through the clouds.

Descending to Monterosso

We return from this long walk with knowledge of yet a new area, more inland than we've previously explored, but with spectacular views across the region.

A Circuitous Path to Soviore and Back

We decide to hike to Santuario Nostra Signora di Soviore, the oldest Marin sanctuary in Liguria, located 470 meters (1,541 feet) above sea level and overlooking the city of Monterosso al Mare.  There is a fairly direct path up from Monterosso, but we start in another direction, leaving Monterosso to the south and climbing through the vineyards to wind around the town (and see the spectacular views of the city and the sea), then meeting up with the straightforward path about half way up and following it the rest of the way to Soviore.

We first walk through Monterosso's narrow streets and up a trail to the south.

Cutting through the village

And up the path to the south

We climb through vineyards with increasingly expansive views across the village and the sea.

Looking back at Monterosso

As we continue up

Through the vineyards

As we get higher, we reach elevations from which paragliders launch to carry adventurous people through the hills and the updrafts and downdrafts to the beach

Paragliding to the beach

Increasingly better views of Monterosso

Lucky group rides on the wine train

As we continue up on foot

We reach the top of the trail, meeting up with the road and continue along it on a path around Monterosso toward the trail from Monterosso to Soviore, which we join.

Looking down on Monterosso

Following the path up to Soviore

Looking down at Monterosso from Soviore

We pay a quick visit to the beautiful small chapel at Soviore, then return to Monterosso, once again ignoring the direct path to town and following the road north to the intersection at Colle di Gritta, then down into the northern new-town side of Monterosso (opposite where we began).

Visiting the chapel

Colle di Gritta

Welcome to the Cinque Terre National Park

Following the road down to Monterosso

Enjoying the spring flowers along the way

We enter Monterosso and walk through the new side of town to the train station where we treat ourselves to cones of mixed fried fish (shrimp, anchovies, white fish) and small bottles of wine, followed by a gelatto desert.

Entering Monterosso

Lunch

We've done a loop through the hills around Monterosso, followed by a trip up to Soviore and one of our favorite lunches.  What a great day!