24 June - We checked out of the Hotel Garden at Levanto, a lovely hotel I would recommend it to anyone, we had a balcony room looking over the street and sea.  Leaving our bags at the hotel for pick up to go to the next hotel - Hotel Paradiso in Portovenere. 



Madonna del Montenero

We caught the train to Riomaggoire arriving about 10:30am, we hoped to catch a bus to Madonna del Montenero but they didn't leave until 12:30pm and the walk was only a one hour walk straight up the mountainside so we decided that this would be the option for us.  To reach Madonna del Montenero we walked up many steps and a muletrack, walking through pine forest and vineyards as well as having views over Riomaggoire from Montenero.



Behind the sanctuary is some National Parks Rental Lodges which we past continuing through more pine forest and vineyards to reach the hamlet of Lemmen and then uphill to Telegrafo, where we decided to have lunch as it was 1pm on a Sunday and we didn't know what times the restaurants would be open to.  We waited for 30 minutes with no service so we decided to walk on to the halfway point Campiglia which was my original plan. 

Part of the path to Telegrafo

After leaving the restaurant we walked past an Alpine Festival on the edge of the pine forest and past a workout circuit which Trevor and I tried out one of the stages, walking on bars hanging down on chains, challenging after hiking about 2 hours.  We descended to the village of Campiglia where we had lunch at La Lampara recommended by Peregrine Adventures, which has a shaded dining area under what we think was a kiwifruit vine.  Trevor had lasagna with mushrooms and a steak while I went with the giant prawns. 

La Lampara

After the refuel stop we walked past a stone tower, through pine forest again and over a red marble outcrop on the edge of the mountain, no falling here!  We saw Palmaria (the island we are to hike the following day, weather permitting) and San Pietro in the distance.  We decided to take the extra side trip up to the Muzzerone Fortress because we haven't already walked enough, which is not open to the public as it belongs to the military.  On the way up to the fortress we past a marble quarry, after seeing the fortress we walked down the mountain along a "path" of scree to Portovenere's harbour with stunning views of Palmaria and Portovenere, arriving at the hotel at 6:30pm.  This was an easier walk than the one from Riomaggoire to Monterosso.  Our room is located next to the stairs so I have been opting to walk up and down it rather than taking the lift so there must be fuel still in the tank.

Marble Quarry

 Monday 25th we boarded the 10am ferry from Portovenere to Terrizzo, Palmaria, an island just in front of Portovenere.  We walked to two fortresses, we had views of Tino an island in front of Palmaria, which has a lighthouse on it.  Visited Pozzale a village within military grounds which you can walk through if you stay to the path, continuing along the beach to an abandoned mining village and marble quarry, where we saw two goats in the distance on the old quarry.  We walked through more pine forest to a place where you can see the French Alps on a clear day, not today.  We tried to find Fortress Cavour with no success and followed the track labelled "dificule", that it was, with stone "steps" of all sizes, shapes, angles, scree, dirt and leaves.  On reaching the bottom we continued around to the ferry jetty where we had lunch at a restaurant and then a 40 minute swim in the clear and refreshing Mediterranean, before returning on the ferry. 

Another goat sighted along the track

After a brief nap at the hotel we went exploring Portovenere, visiting San Pietro built on the ruins of a Roman temple to Venus.  We saw Grotta dell' Arpaia known as Byron's Grotto and then continued to Doria Castle and saw San Lorenzo, cemetery and the old town gate.

San Pietro, Portovenere.