Imperia Oneglia - Borgomaro - Pantasina - Dolcedo - Imperia Porto Maurizio
From Imperia Oneglia, upon leaving the sea, take the State Road 28 and, going along the road, cross Pontedassio and find on the left the ruins of the tower and oratory of Santa Lucia.
After about 4 kilometers a detour on the left, after passing the village of San Lazzaro Reale, will take you to Borgomaro on the left bank of the river Impero.
Continue through the hamlets of Maro Castello, Ville San Sebastiano and Ville San Pietro.
This path that interfaces with the side of the Impero Valley gives you a “silver” scene of the thick olive groves and the rugged hills that end in the Guardiabella alpine pasture.
After 7 kilometers from Borgomaro, an arrow indicates the direction to Colle d'Oggia and you’ll climb up a mountain road, with tight hairpin bends, which is the field of the special trials of the various car rallies that take place there.
It only takes a few kilometers to find yourself in front of what looks like a destroyed and abandoned village; in reality this ghost village was built before the last war in imitation of a Ligurian village as an ammunition depot: the planes that often flew over the area to bomb the depot never found it. It accidentally exploded at the end of the war.
Among woods of oaks and chestnut trees you’ll quickly ascend and you will be able to see the spurs of the Alps. A few more kilometers and a fork on the left indicates Pantasina.
On your right, you can see upland meadows with the classic Ligurian constructions (the "caselette") used as shelters for the night in the times when the mowing of the the meadows was done by hand.
With the same rapidity with which you have ascended the height, you can descend going along the grasslands, enter a forest of oaks and, after a few bends, your gaze will fall on the sanctuary of Madonna della Guardia: also in this case, the valley opens under the feet of travelers or cyclists and invites them to immerse themselves in its expanse of olive trees. In fact, after perhaps one kilometer, you’ll be immersed among majestic olive groves.
Cross Pantasina and, at that point, you have two choices: continue towards Vasia or Pantasina. In the first case descend to Dolcedo, a village of oil mills on the river and today a German colony.
In the second case, you’ll encounter the various hamlets of Prelà where you can visit the church of San Giovanni: then you can skirt Dolcedo and from Caramagna you’ll return to the sea.
In both cases the road takes you to Imperia Porto Maurizio through different villages.
(Route: km 45 - journey time: 2 hours and 30 minutes – number of stop-overs: 5).
