The Stone Embrace that Dominates the Superba
There is a precise moment, as you climb toward the ridges that encircle Genoa, when the sound of the city changes in nature. The background traffic, the clatter of trains, the incessant buzz of the caruggi and seafront streets blend into a single, indistinct murmur that is soon swallowed by the whistle of the wind. It is at this exact instant that you will realize you have crossed an invisible boundary. You are still in Genoa, technically just a few kilometers as the crow flies from the sea, but you have entered a world made of rock, wild grass, broom, and infinite horizons. This is the magic of the Parco delle Mura and the path that leads to Righi, an urban trekking route that represents the very essence of our city: rough, vertical, difficult to conquer, but capable of repaying every effort with a beauty that takes your breath away.
To fully understand this route, you must first understand what you are treading on. What many Genoese generically call “the walls of the fifteenth century” are actually the Mura Nuove, a titanic work erected starting in 1626, in the heart of the seventeenth century, when the Republic of Genoa, frightened by an attack from the Duke of Savoy, decided to fortify its mountain ridges. In just a few years, with unprecedented engineering and economic effort, the city erected a wall system nearly twenty kilometers long, the most extensive in Europe, second in the world only to the Great Wall of China. Today, walking along these bastions means retracing the steps of ancient military patrols, suspended between the blue of the Ligurian Sea and the harsh green of the Apennines.
If you are ready to lace up your trekking shoes and leave our residences in the historic center for a few hours, we will take you on the discovery of a route that requires approximately five or six hours of walking, a good dose of stamina, but that will give you the definitive perspective on Genoa. It is not a simple walk: it is a physical and temporal journey above the rooftops of the Superba.
From Porta degli Angeli to the Sky: The Beginning of the Ascent
Our itinerary begins from a place that many tourists completely ignore: the area of San Bartolomeo del Fossato and the climb toward Porta degli Angeli. You can reach the trailhead by public transportation from the Sampierdarena neighborhood, leaving behind the industrial and port soul of the city. The beginning is perhaps the most difficult part of the entire journey. The climb offers no mercy, the slopes are typically Genoese in nature, that is to say relentless, but it is precisely this initial effort that acts as a filter, keeping crowds at bay and preserving the authenticity of the place.
Photo by paola capelletto on Unsplash
As you gain elevation along the Mura degli Angeli, the perspective reverses. The Lanterna, which from below seemed like an unreachable giant, begins to shrink, becoming a white lighthouse that emerges from a sea of containers and cranes. The port reveals itself in its complex geometry, a constantly moving puzzle of cargo ships, ferries, and tugboats. The smell of the sea rises, pushed by thermal currents, mingling with the sharp scent of wild fennel and sun-scorched earth.
After overcoming the first steep sections, the path becomes gentler and faithfully follows the profile of the seventeenth-century fortification. The stone bastions, darkened by time and caressed by lichens, will serve as your guide. In this stretch, silence begins to take hold, broken only by the chirping of cicadas in summer or the whistle of the tramontana wind in winter. You are on the exact line of demarcation between civilization and wild nature, a boundary that in Genoa is always sharp, never blurred.
Forte Begato and the Ridge that Divides Two Worlds
Continuing on your way, the massive silhouette of Forte Begato will begin to take shape on the horizon. Built between 1818 and 1830, during Savoyard rule, this giant of red brick and limestone represents one of the most impressive examples of nineteenth-century military architecture in Liguria. Its squared bulk dominates the Val Polcevera on one side and the city center on the other. Reaching the meadows in front of the fort is an emotion that every Genoese has cherished in their heart since childhood: it is the place of Sunday excursions, picnics on the grass, kites launched into the wind.
Stop here for a rest. The panorama from Forte Begato is an open-air geography lesson. On your left, the Val Polcevera cuts inland, a deep furrow marked by the city’s industrial history, highway viaducts, and the new San Giorgio Bridge that connects the two sides of the valley. On your right, instead, opens the natural amphitheater of the historic center. You can make out the dark expanse of the caruggi, church domes, the skyscrapers of Piazza Dante, and beyond the horizon, the curved line where the sea meets the sky.
The stretch of trail connecting Forte Begato to the next stop is perhaps the most evocative part of the entire trek. You walk on a grassy, broad, and panoramic ridge. It’s not uncommon to encounter horses grazing freely, goats, or even the occasional cow that will gaze placidly at you as you pass. It feels like being on an Alpine plateau, yet, turning your gaze, you can see ferries maneuvering in the tourist port. This dichotomy, this absurd and wonderful coexistence between mountains and sea, is the true secret of Genoa.
The giant of the mountain: Forte Sperone
Continuing along the main path, you’ll leave behind Forte Puin (recognizable by its perfectly preserved central tower) and head straight for the apex of our itinerary: Forte Sperone. Located at approximately 450 meters above sea level, at the exact point where the walls rising from Val Polcevera meet those rising from Val Bisagno, Sperone is the apex of Genoa’s defensive triangle. Its pointed shape, resembling the bow of a stone ship ready to cut the northern winds, is unmistakable.
Arriving at the foot of its walls inspires a certain awe. The smooth and inaccessible walls, the deep moats, the drawbridges now fixed in time tell stories of isolated garrisons, of bitterly cold winters spent watching the horizon for an enemy that, fortunately, never came to breach these defenses. From the fort’s esplanade, the view embraces the entire expanse of the city, stretching on the clearest days to the Portofino headland to the east and as far as Corsica to the south.
This is the highest point of your hike. Take time to sit on the warm rocks, have a sip of water, and listen to the wind. From up here, Genoa finally becomes comprehensible: a thin strip of land wrested from the mountains with great effort, a miracle of human persistence clinging to the slopes to avoid sliding into the sea. It’s a perspective that will make you appreciate even more the narrow alleys you’ll explore when heading back down, consulting our Genoa guide to discover new urban corners.
The descent towards Righi: the final reward
Having left Forte Sperone, the descent towards Righi begins. The path widens, becoming a comfortable gravel road shaded by maritime pines and holm oaks. It’s the most relaxing part of the route, where your muscles can finally stretch and your mind can wander. Slowly, the wild nature gives way to more cultivated hills: the first dry stone walls appear, terraced cultivations, nineteenth-century villas hidden among the trees.
Arriving at Righi, the quintessential hillside neighborhood, is a soft return to civilization. This area, developed in the late nineteenth century as a holiday destination for Genoa’s bourgeoisie seeking fresh air, retains a suspended and vaguely retro atmosphere. The panoramic terraces of Righi offer a spectacular view, perfect for sunset hour, when the city below lights up and the sea turns purple and orange.
But the real reward, after hours of walking, is sitting at the tables of one of the historic trattorie in the area. The aroma of fresh basil, melted butter on pansotti filled with preboggion, warm focaccia accompanied by a glass of local white wine: Genoese cuisine seems to have an even more intense flavor when you’ve earned it through effort. Restaurants like Montallegro, with their rooms overlooking the gulf, are a city institution and the worthy conclusion of this vertical exploration.
Why this Genoa remains a secret for many
You may wonder how such a spectacular route, right next to a major city, is not overrun by mass tourism. The answer lies in the nature of Genoa itself and the psychology of those who visit it. The average tourist arrives in the city attracted by the sea, the Aquarium, the noble palaces. They look upward, notice the fortresses dotting the ridges, but rarely conceive the idea of reaching them on foot in just a few hours. The verticality intimidates, and the lack of aggressive tourist signage does the rest.
The Mura Nuove and the forts thus remain an almost exclusive domain of Genoese people. They are our refuge when the humidity of the sea becomes oppressive, our open-air gymnasium, the place where we take our dogs to run on Sunday mornings. Choosing to dedicate a day to this trek means committing an act of rebellion against hit-and-run tourism. It means wanting to understand Genoa not just by how it appears, but by how it was built: with effort, sweat, and infinite stubbornness.
Practical tips for tackling the Mura Nuove
To enjoy this experience without any mishaps, we recommend starting well prepared. First, footwear: avoid gym shoes with smooth soles, the terrain is often rocky and irregular; a good pair of light trekking shoes is ideal. Bring plenty of water with you, as public fountains along the ridges are rare, and in summer the sun beats down mercilessly. In this regard, the best seasons for this itinerary are spring and autumn. If you decide to go in summer, start at dawn; in winter, dress warmly, because the mistral wind on the forts is biting.
On your way back from Righi to the city center, one last wonderful surprise awaits you: the Zecca-Righi Funicular Railway. Inaugurated in 1895, this ingenious feat of engineering will bring you back down in just a few minutes. The historic red cars glide along a steep incline, first immersing themselves in the woods, then sliding between the buildings of Castelletto, before finally plunging into the long tunnel that emerges in Largo della Zecca, just steps away from Via Garibaldi. It’s a journey within a journey, the perfect way to mend the gap between mountain and sea.
Your refuge after the walk
After a day spent challenging the slopes of the Ligurian Apennines, with tired legs and eyes full of endless horizons, there’s no better feeling than returning to a welcoming place. Genoa reveals itself to those who know how to explore it slowly, to those who have the courage to abandon the most beaten paths to seek the true soul of the city. If you’d like to continue reading our suggestions, we invite you to browse the other articles in our online magazine.
And if the Superb City is calling you, if you feel like listening to the wind on the forts and losing yourself in the alleyways in the evening, we are here waiting for you. You can book now your stay and prepare yourself to experience an authentic experience in the beating heart of a city that never stops surprising.
