The coastline here rises sharply from the water, vertically in many places, so there is no nice flat shoreline road at all times. We knew that when we planned the trip of course but this would be our first trip inland in order to get to Levanto which is a kind of gateway to the Cinque Terre. Unfortunately these colds we picked up are hanging on so we’re not in top shape but away we went. The coastline here is truly remarkable in its beauty and there’s no view without the climb so we were distracted as we pushed.
We stayed low on the coast for the first 20km or so and then started inland and up at Sestri Levante. The road was great and much quieter off the coast, very little traffic. We rode through pine forests in silence except for a bit of chain noise and heavy breathing as we gradually came on top of the ridge. Then we floated along for awhile until plunging down to the sea and Levanto in the last 10km. We are staying here for three nights so we get a rest and a chance to see the Cinque Terre.
Up in the pine forests
At this point we still had a lot of climbing left
The morning view from our hotel in Rapallo
Coming down the mountain into Levanto
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