La Dolce Vita Wine Tours

Piedmont & Cinque Terre Trails

A wine & hiking tour, from the Langhe Hills to the Italian Riviera

Trip Notes:

Hiking Level of Difficulty

Our hikes range from 3 to 5 hours per day. The two parts of this tour involve different kinds of hiking. The first part in Piedmont is the easier. Here we’re on a combination of gravel roads, wooded paths, and the Barolo Wine Trail, which is a marked path that cuts through the vineyards. It’s wine country, so there are rolling hills, including a couple of steep but short climbs in the vineyards and some longer climbs on country roads with a gradual grade. In Piedmont, we have the support van accompanying us every day, so tired hikers can jump in and ride with the guide.

The second part is on the Riviera coast. This is more challenging, involving longer ascents and descents on the coastal mountains. On the Cinque Terre hike, we do three sections of trail, covering four out of the five towns in the “five lands” or cinque terre. (Advanced hikers can opt to do the whole trail.) One hour-long section (Vernazza to Corniglia) involves a good amount of climbing on mountain steps and dirt paths. Then on our Portofino hike, we cross a broad promontory, climbing gradually to the top, hiking along the ridge, and descending through the woods on switchback trails. There is no van support on either day, since we won’t be near any roads. We travel by train and ferry. On the Cinque Terre, hikers can easily opt out at any town by hopping on the train. But on the Portofino promontory, once we start hiking, it’s all or nothing. (There are ferry-only options for people who wish to skip the hike entirely.)

Hiking shoes with deep treads are required; walking sticks are recommended. Though challenging, we’ve found that anyone in reasonably good shape can conquer the Riviera hills—and are happy they did so!

Airports

Milan’s Malpensa or Linate. Both have convenient airport shuttle buses to Milan’s central train station, the Stazione Centrale (50 minutes from Malpensa, 30 minutes from Linate).

Pre-tour

Plan to land in Italy a day before the tour begins; that’s necessary to be at our starting point on time. Most people spend the preceding night in Milan. For hotel suggestions, email us or consult a good hotel search engine, such as TripAdvisor.com or Venere.com. We recommend staying either near the main train station, called the Stazione Centrale (more convenient for catching the train on Day 1), or in the historic center near the Duomo (more convenient for pre-tour sightseeing). From one area to the other, it's about a 45-minute walk, a few stops on the subway, or a 15-minute taxi ride.

Meeting point

Our meeting point is the train station in Tortona, a small town on the rail line from Milan to Genoa. You can spend the previous night in Milan or in Tortona. If Milan, you’ll go to Milan’s Stazione Centrale and take the 9 A.M. commuter train to Tortona. (We’ll provide precise train details in your information packet.) It takes less than an hour, and we’ll meet you at the Tortona station. If you stay in Tortona, we can recommend a hotel with a good restaurant, and we will pick you up there on Day 1. Please let us know if you’re coming from elsewhere or spending the previous night in Tortona. From Tortona, we shuttle to Alba (about 1 hour), where the tour gets underway.

Departure day

On our final day, you can depart from Sestri Levante whenever you wish. Depending on time, either we or the hotel can offer you a shuttle to the train station. The train from Sestri to Milan takes between 2hr44min and 3hr20min.

Italian train schedule

Click here for the Trenitalia schedule in English. Be aware that the schedule is posted just a few months in advance, so if you’re looking for long-range dates, try something sooner, if only to get an idea of departure frequency and trip length.

Trip extensions

If you’d like some downtime at the beach or wish to explore the coastal towns, you could extend your stay in Sestri Levante for another day or two. Genoa is certainly worth a visit and is do-able as a day-trip from Sestri. A working port and the birthplace of Christopher Colombus, it offers a world-class aquarium, a waterfront promenade (designed by architect Renzo Piano, a local son), wonderful art museums housed in 18th palaces, and a fascinating medieval section. Or you could leave the Rivieria and head south to Florence (about 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours by train).

Travel insurance

This is recommended to protect you from needless loss caused by last-minute cancellations, lost luggage, and more. One source is Travelex Insurance: www.travelexinsurance.com, (800) 228-9792 (please use our compay code: 21-0043 LDV).

Weather

When packing, check www.weather.com. Go to “Alba, Italy” and “Sestri Levante, Italy” to get a general idea of temperatures and forecast. By late May, we should have beautiful, clear weather, with daytime temperatures averaging 75º and nighttime 65º. In early September, it’ll still be summertime. Daytime temps average 70–75º and nighttime 60º.

Reading

Articles by La Dolce Vita Wine Tours cofounder Patricia Thomson:
"Nebbiolo and the Allure of Barolo"
"A Piedmont Fable: Barbera"
"Inside Gavi: Piedmont's White Wine Town"
”Ancient Comfort Food: Liguria’s Farinata"