Zuccarello - population less than 300Savona Province, Riviera di Pontente Having planned to spend our month-long honeymoon hiking from town to town in Tuscany and Umbria, my new hubby and I ended up on a road trip instead, after he herniated a disk and pinched a nerve on our first day in Florence. We spent almost a month in a hot car—peeking into museums, only to scurry out again when his pain became too unbearable, avoiding the expensive seaside resorts because we had budgeted for a hiking vacation, getting lost and terrified on the curvy, unmarked roads. We spent too much, ate too much, and saw less than we would have lik
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Zuccarello - population less than 300
Savona Province, Riviera di Pontente
Having planned to spend our month-long honeymoon hiking from town to town in Tuscany and Umbria, my new hubby and I ended up on a road trip instead, after he herniated a disk and pinched a nerve on our first day in Florence.
We spent almost a month in a hot car—peeking into museums, only to scurry out again when his pain became too unbearable, avoiding the expensive seaside resorts because we had budgeted for a hiking vacation, getting lost and terrified on the curvy, unmarked roads. We spent too much, ate too much, and saw less than we would have liked of Tuscany—but we did end up getting lost in some mighty fine locations. Zuccarello was one of them.
Towards the end of our trip, after a week-long (unplanned and virtually map-less) stint in Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, and Monaco, we found ourselves heading toward the Cinque Terre (where we had been planning on spending 3 days hiking, before the back problems began). We had read about a cave system that was, supposedly, fascinating, and so one morning we set out to find it. Only we found Zuccarello instead.
We had obviously taken a wrong turn, but decided to keep driving down the ever-narrowing road, hoping to connect with another road we could see on the map that looked like it connected with the caves. Suddenly, from out of the rather overgrown vegetation, we saw what looked, initially, like a shantytown on our right side, separated from the road by a trickle of water that looked to have once been a river.
Intrigued, we pulled into a parking lot just outside the town walls, and walked inside. It seemed abandoned at first, and there were few stores (if any?), one restaurant, and only six people (that we saw). But it was charming, and such a relief from the hordes of people on the coast, so we decided to stay and explore.
Two hours in town had us hiking up a mountain with a ruined castello at the top, exploring ancient streets and crumbling bridges, taking lots of photographs, and being served a delicious meal while watching some of the older Zuccarellese talk in the square in front of us. Beautiful town, fun adventure—and we were glad we'd gotten lost!
Quick Tips:
I can't tell you how to get there, or how to get around once there, but if you explore enough, and head away from the "river," you'll find a path. If you follow it, it will lead you uphill, away from the town. At first it's cobbled, and then the cobbling gives way to a steep, rocky, overgrown path. Just keep going up. Bring some water and a stick, if you can find either. Keeping following the signs, painted on rocks for the most part, that say "castello." When you reach the top you'll find the ruins of the 13th-century Castello Del Carretto, as well as a great view of the surrounding area.
Plan to spend a few hours there, or more if you've got the time. There was only one other group of tourists there, a German couple and their two kids. It's a beautiful, charming little town, and it's made more so because of the low number of visitors there.Best Way To Get Around:
You need a car to get there, but once you're there, walk, walk, walk!
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