A holiday in Apricale
Apricale is the prettiest of the 10 very different medieval villages on La Strada del Olio. It has the sunniest piazza — the name comes from the Latin Apricus, meaning open to the sun. It is one of only seven villages in Italy with most beautiful status.
Apricale's shops, cafes and good restaurants are open all year round, which make it the perfect base from which to explore the wider area, but the village has a lot to offer in its own right. Surrounding the piazza are the medieval castle, the museum, several lovely churches and an old town hall. The school, shops and houses all cling together on a knife-edge of hillside, linked by narrow tunnels, alleyways, bridges and terraces. The whole village is impenetrable to modern transport although there are plenty of parking spaces on the periphery.
Close by, in summer, there is river swimming in the sparkling water that tumbles off the mountains, and the beaches of the French and Italian Riviera are a short drive away. In winter you may enjoy lunch in the open air, walking or cycling in the Riviera sunshine. If you are looking for something more strenuous there are some serious mountains to climb.
Of the 10 very different medieval villages on La Strada del Olio, Apricale is recognized as the prettiest with the sunniest piazza, (the name means open to the sun), one of only seven villages in Italy with ‘most beautiful’ status. Its shops, cafes and good restaurants are open all year round, which make it the perfect base from which to explore the wider area, but it has a lot to offer in its own right. At the core of the village and surrounding the piazza are the medieval castle, the museum, several lovely churches and an old town hall. The school, shops and medieval houses, all cling together on a knife-edge of hillside, linked by tunnels, alleyways, bridges and terraces with astounding views.
From Apricale the sophisticated French and Italian Riviera beaches are a short drive, bus or train ride away, but swimming in the deep river pools of Rochetta and sun bathing on the rocks nearby is also a lovely way to relax. In winter, lunch in the fresh air, walking or cycling the many miles of tracks and footpaths or climbing the snow capped mountains which overlook the Nervia valley are all popular pastimes.
People come from afar simply for the food. Apricale’s 7 restaurants serve great traditional fare. Village shops stock locally produced bread, cheese, ham, sausages, pesto, olive oil, and wine. Markets remind us that food can be seasonal with beans, salads, herbs, figs and peaches from local gardens, chestnuts and fungi, wild boar and rabbit from the wooded hillsides and all the cheeses, sun dried and oil preserved delicacies of the region.
The Ligurian day starts early. People use the cool mornings to work on their land, grabbing a quick coffee in the cafe or collecting fresh bread on their way to their hillside plots. Lunch, the main meal of the day is at one; work stops and shops close shortly after this for the afternoon siesta. At four shops and offices open again and stay open until around seven thirty in summer. After a light dinner families stroll in the piazza, teenagers congregate on the upper levels, little children play with balls on the lower levels and old people sit under the arches to enjoy the evening.
