Are you fond of trekking, mountain biking and walking? Aveto Regional Natural Park offers these and many other soothing opportunities and the best experiences. For effective adventure, you can take advantage of our car rental service, hire a car, and comfortably reach your destinations.
The Aveto Regional Natural Park comprises of three alleys that follow the course of three different watercourses: the Aveto, Sturla and Graveglia, which give their names to the three valleys respectively. Just an hour and a half’s drive from Genoa, you will discover a miniature Trentino hidden by expanses of centuries-old fir and beech trees not far from the sea. The park is easily accessible by car. To discover the most beautiful places in this area, you can rent a vehicle for a short time and enjoy a relaxing weekend of excursions and culture.
Interesting places in Val D’Aveto
Val D’Aveto has the highest peaks of the Ligurian Apennines, for example, places such as Maggiorasca and Penna, are a destination for winter tourism. Santo Stefano d’Aveto is the most famous resort in this area and is very popular. In winter, thanks to some small ski lifts, it is possible to ski and snowboard. In summer, instead, in Santo Stefano, it is possible to visit the Malaspina-Doria Castle and the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Guadalupe. A little further down, in the municipality of Rezzoaglio, there is Lago delle Lame, a small lake of glacial origin with peculiar shades of blue and green with many paths around it. Not far away there is also the Museo del Bosco, a point of information and dissemination on the flora and fauna of the park, which opens during the summer and organises activities for children. In the outdoor area, there is a beautiful exhibition of wooden artwork.
Interesting places in the Sturla Valley
The Sturla Valley has as its main centre, the municipality of Borzonasca. Here, the first point of reference is the beautiful Abbey of Borzone, a Benedictine church with origins in 700 A.D. and remodelling in the 16th century. Heading up the valley you will come across the Megalithic Face, the largest rock sculpture in Europe. Discovered in 1965, it is not known precisely when it was made: one hypothesis is that it dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic, but more credible theories frame it as the work of the monks of the Abbey. Climbing further up the valley, you will arrive at Prato Sopralacroce, a pretty hamlet of Borzonasca, from where you can take a beautiful walk to discover the suggestive church in the woods, the church of San Martino di Licciorno.
Interesting places in Val Graveglia
Apart from the walks in the woods, trekking or mountain biking trails, Val Graveglia offers other several possibilities to explore in the Aveto Regional Park. Valgraveglia is a somewhat hidden, rough and rugged valley, like the stones and rocks that form it, which have a very long history to tell. In fact, Val Graveglia is considered by geologists to be one of the most important areas for the study of the Earth’s dynamics and the study of rocks that currently only surface in a few emerged areas of the world or from the floor of present-day ocean basins. The Valley Mountains are rich mainly in manganese and minerals containing iron and copper. It is precisely manganese that has been the ‘source of life’ for generations of miners and their families. We absolutely recommend a visit to the Gambatesa Mine, one of the largest manganese mines in Europe. Another point of reference is a visit to the hamlet of Nascio with its famous bridge and the village of Cassagna, where time seems to have stood still.
