The hike connects Noli and Varigotti, two famous seaside resorts in western Liguria, with two distinct trails, the first overlooking the sea, the second inland, forming a loop to be done in winter or mid-season.

Sea, mountains, nature and picturesque views are the highlights of this simple walk.

Technical description:
It starts from Lorenzo Vivaldo Square, in the area south of Noli, along the internal road that runs alongside the Aurelia. Take the rightmost road following the signs for the “Dante walk” (or trail No. 1). You leave the village and at the junction of trails 1 and 5 follow the former.
Past some ruins, we ignore the junction to San Lazzaro, always following trail No. 1 to Capo Noli.
A slight climb leads to the remains of the Church of Santa Margherita. Taking the unmarked path that comes off to the left, you can optionally descend to the Hermitage. There are beautiful views of the coast here.

We continue the walk, always following the Dante walk that passes by an old house. A little further on you will encounter signs for the Grotta dei Briganti: it is advisable to take this short detour that leads to a spectacular natural cavern carved into the rock overlooking the sea.
Having completed the tour of the cave, retrace your steps to the post with the fork, and from here continue on a steeper climb that leads to a new trail junction, where you turn left, still following the Dante walk. After 1.45 hours of walking we reach the gate that would lead to the top of Mount Capo Noli, now serving a military zone. A little further on, you will come across the remains of the old traffic light and then continue along the wide mule track to the junction of trails 1, 3 and 6.

Following No. 3 (in the direction of Varigotti), one enters the thick forest to arrive shortly at the fork that leads to the nearby Torre delle Streghe (Witches’ Tower).
Having visited the tower and observed the views, we resume walking following the sign for Cian de Strie, which quickly joins the abandoned path down to the tower. At an altitude of 230m. About then another fork in the road is encountered: to the right you continue along the Dante promenade, while to the left you descend to Varigotti. Taking the latter path, the sometimes steep and often rocky descent begins, leading to the entrance of a very original house with numerous sea-related inscriptions. Continuing on, ignore the left fork that leads to San Lorenzo, to arrive along the inner road of the village of Varigotti. So far it has been walking for 2.40 hours.

We then move onto the Via Aurelia, which divides the village from the beaches (a good place to stop for lunch) and proceed west, meeting a road on the right that climbs (Strada Vecchia), where there is a tourist sign for the Famiglia Ruffino winery. You ascend this road to arrive after a few meters at the trailhead marked by a double red X.
You resume climbing at a good pace along a nice paved mule track, which exits the village quickly gaining elevation. You pass through terraced olive groves and continue up the slope, arriving at a Madonnina that finds shelter in a hole in the earth to the right of the path, beyond which you continue along the right path. Still uphill, but on open ground, take a left fork, and further up, having reached the highest point of this ascent, you come to a crossroads, where you proceed straight ahead.

The path intercepts a wide mule track, where you turn right to arrive after about 200m of walking at a further fork: to the right is back to Varigotti, while to the left the path to take leads to Noli (small indicator arrow placed on a tree). A little further up you will intercept another mule track, which should be taken to the left, and then the trail(No. 6) that begins to descend to the right. Further down you meet trail No. 5, which descends to the right and soon reaches the remains of the beautiful two-apse church of St. Michael.
The trail continues downhill, steep in places and potentially slippery especially on wet ground, and returns to Noli after 4:30 hours of total walking time.

Route type: loop
Length: 12 km
Height difference in ascent: 696 m
Height difference on descent: 696 m
Highest point: 301 m
Lowest point: 0 m

Technical advice:
No water is found along the route, except in the villages of Noli and Varigotti.

Municipality of departure: Noli
Place of departure: Noli
Municipality of arrival: Noli
Place of arrival: Noli

Recommended period: all year round