The path from Monterosso to Levanto

Monterosso is the westernmost village of Cinque Terre amd is the departure point for some wonderful treks. The free hiking itinerary to Punta Mesco and Levanto has nothing to envy to the payment path to Vernazza... we are always talking about magnificent places.
Monterosso is the only village of Cinque Terre with two long beaches, separated by the promontory of Colle dei Cappuccini.

The longest beach is the one of Fegina, right in front of the train station.

After a good time in Monterosso, you can walk to the westernmost part of the town, at the bottom of Fegina beach, where there is the beginning of the path to Levanto. The first part is a road with some stairways that make for steep shortcuts. Then you leave the road and, following the signs, you start hiking in the woods.

While going up, the views open up and allow admiring the whole Cinque Terre and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto in the background. If you hike this path in november, you can eat corbezzoli, tasty red fruits that are really abundant in this area.

November is really a great time to enjoy this trek, but the whole year is good, but the hottest summer days. Thanks to the evergreen vegetation, also in winter the colours are beautiful.

When you get at 300 metres above sea level, a sign points to San Antonio del Mesco, the ruins of an ancient church. You can take this short path to admire some more views. In general, the whole hiking itinerary is well marked and the paths are easy to follow.

From now on, the panorama does not touch the Cinque Terre anymore, but the open sea. Ah, of course you can do this trek in the other way (from Levanto to Monterosso) and is similarly great. However, in the short winter days, it is a good idea to follow the sun from east to west, and so to walk from Monterosso to Levanto as described in this page.

Along the path, in certain points you are on top of the cliffs that fall steeply into the sea, and you can view all the beauty of the Liguria Sea.

Another interesting point of the path is Case Lovara, a villa that can be visited, with its terraced fields perched on the cliff.

While getting closer to Levanto, you get to admire all the coast to the west of Punta Mesco: in particular, you can notice the cliffs of the promontories of Bonassola, Moneglia, Sestri Levante and, farther away, Portofino. In the clearest days you can see the western coast of Liguria and the Maritime Alps.

After two and half hours you arrive in Levanto. So, this itinerary is nice also when you don't have much time, also thanks to the many trains between Monterosso and Levanto. However, if you also want to explore Monterosso, go to the church of San Antonio al Mesco, have a picnic and enjoy the views, you can easily double that time.

Also Levanto deserves some time, to admire the old town center, the sea promenade and the beach.

From Levanto you can continue to trek to Bonassola and Framura via the path in the tunnels or along the panoramic paths that run higher on the hills. However, it is likely better to dedicate a full day to these other itineraries, as Bonassola and Framura are beautiful (as most part of the Italian Riviera!).
Punta Mesco is the perfect observation point over the coasts of Liguria, and it makes you want to explore all the coast to the east of Monterosso and to the west of Levanto!

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