Varigotti: surprise of Ponente

filled by Giulia & Romeo

A group of low houses, colored yellow and pink, the different shapes and shades, with green shutters that open in front of the sea and the beach here is the village of Varigotti, the surprise of the Riviera di Ponente. All the villages look similar with the exception of Varigotti and its atmosphere will charm you. A country in miniature where in a few hours drive you will forget the traffic and shaking underground.
The long beach on many postcards extends for 1.7 km along the length of the town and ends in front of the old town, near the pier.
It’s the most picturesque part: told by the local people, and it is hard to believe that here in the winter landscape is a masterpiece. At sunset the sun sinks behind Albenga and illuminates the pastel-colored houses and the rustle of the waves is the background music.
Impossible not to come back after you have discovered it. Beyond the pier, 250 feet, reached by swimming but also through a narrow path a little 'difficult (which sometimes requires the use of fixed rope and chain as well as essential and comfortable hiking boots), there is the beach, set among the cliffs overlooking the sea. On the end of the promontory of Punta Crena,
Long Bay is a small no more than forty feet deep and fifty, which gives the swimmers to explore emotions.
In front, between the promontory of Punta Crena and Capo Noli, there is a cove of the Saracens, which is accessed by a single path that, starts from Aurelia, passing some steps between the two walls of private properties. Here is a sany beach. In all the beaches of Varigotti the water is clear and transparent for miles and miles.
The hotels are not numerous, but varied to suit all budgets, from the half board to the Grand Hotel.
We recommend the Cape, in the old village, a three star, recently renovated, clean, comfortable and staff very welcoming. It is not on the Aurelia and therefore has the advantage of being very quiet.
For fans of the comics a must is Disney classic Mondadori, "Donald and the night of the Saracen," which is largely set in Varigotti, especially on the watchtower of the hill you can see from the beach in front of the village old.
But the place is so close to the comics that do not be surprised to find even one episode of Diabolik and Eva Kant, perhaps in search of diamonds hidden in the dungeons of the beautiful stone house that sees beyond the pier, overlooking the sea.
Varigotti can be reached easily by train, getting off at Finale Ligure and then taking a five minute bus trip. But if you want to go around during your stay in the area, perhaps it’s best by car, in that way you don’t binded to bus schedules and do not spend a fortune on taxis.
A few kilometers from Varigotti are two of the most beautiful villages in Italy. One is Finalborgo with ancient palaces and theaters in the city now being restored, and the other is Borgio Verezzi, where you can dine in one of the typical restaurants with spectacular views over the bay below.
Perched on the hill of Orera, the village "saraceno" is presented as a harmonious blend of four different villages (Poggio, Piazza, Roccaro, Crosa), characterized by pink stone buildings set in a landscape of rock and sea, and connected by narrow alleys, mule tracks and roads - the “de creuza de ma”sung by Fabrizio de Andrè - once destinated for the mules and wagons.
The village square is the best known. Here, in this amazing terrace overlooking the sea which is St. Augustine's Square, with its church of the seventeenth century, here was born the Borgio Verezzi Theatre Festival. Even today, from back in 1967, on summer nights the square is the beautiful natural setting in which the actors move, under the starry sky and in front of the dark blue sea with its thousand lights.