Apricale is a medieval village of 600 inhabitants perched on a hill above the Merdanzo valley in western Liguria, 15km from Ventimiglia and the French border. It has no cars in the historic center, no chain businesses, no major monuments, and approximately zero international tourism infrastructure. It was named among Italy's most beautiful villages (I Borghi più belli d'Italia) and then ignored by most of the people who compiled the list. This guide exists because Apricale deserves better than obscurity and rewards better than most famous destinations.
How do you want to see it?
Liguria, ItalyCompare the same experience on GetYourGuide and Viator, save what you like to My Trip, share it, and book when you’re sure. Nearest to this page first.
What Apricale Actually Is
A completely intact medieval village on a steep hillside, with caruggi (the narrow Ligurian alleyways) connecting the houses in a system designed before anyone owned anything larger than a mule. The Castello della Lucertola (Castle of the Lizard, 10th-11th century) sits at the top. The piazza below contains the Church of the Purification of the Virgin (15th century, good wooden choir inside) and the outdoor theater carved into the hillside. The castle interior has rotating contemporary art exhibitions that are better than the average for this kind of venue. The view from the castle terraces, across the Nervia valley to the Maritime Alps behind, with the Ligurian coast visible on clear days, is one of the best accessible views in Liguria.
Getting to Apricale
Car: from Ventimiglia (15km, 25 min via SS20 and the valley road), from San Remo (35km, 45 min), from Nice (70km, 1h15). Parking outside the historic center, the village itself is pedestrian. Bus: Riviera Trasporti runs limited services from Ventimiglia (check timetables, frequencies are low, this is best done by car). By train to Ventimiglia, then taxi or rental car. The road from the valley floor up to Apricale is narrow and scenic, single lane in sections, passing places available, perfectly manageable in any normal car.
Where to Eat in Apricale
The village has two restaurants of quality. The local cuisine is Ligurian mountain cooking: rabbit with olives and herbs, trofie al pesto (the short twisted pasta that is the Ligurian default), farinata (chickpea flour flatbread from a wood oven, eaten hot, immediately), stuffed vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini) with the classic Ligurian herbed stuffing. The olive oil from the Ligurian variety (Taggiasca olive) is exceptionally mild and fruity, used generously on everything. Prices in Apricale are significantly lower than on the coastal resorts 20km away.
What Surrounds Apricale
The Nervia valley below contains Dolceacqua (10 minutes by car), another extraordinarily preserved medieval village, with a double-arched medieval bridge that Monet painted in 1884 (the painting is in the collection of the Musée Marmottan in Paris). The Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC wine (a light, elegant red from the local Rossese grape) is produced here and is one of the wines that serious Italian wine buyers seek out precisely because it's almost unknown outside the region. The village of Bajardo (20 minutes from Apricale, higher in the mountains) has a ruined medieval church dramatically collapsed in the 1887 earthquake, still standing as a roofless ruin with the apse and part of the nave intact, one of the most photogenic ruins in Liguria, never visited.
Questions About Apricale
Is Apricale worth a special trip?
Apricale is best combined with other destinations in western Liguria: Ventimiglia (for the Roman ruins and Friday market), Dolceacqua (Monet's bridge, Rossese wine), Pigna (thermal baths), and the Monte Carlo casino if you're coming from the French side. As a standalone destination it requires commitment, the journey from major cities isn't trivial. As part of a Ligurian hinterland circuit, it's the best village in an area full of excellent villages.
When is the best time to visit Apricale?
Spring (April-May) when the hillside vegetation is green and the wildflowers in the valleys are at their best. September-October for the olive harvest period and harvest festivals. The summer festival season brings the Teatro della Tosse performances, an established Genoese theater company uses the open-air theater carved into Apricale's hillside for summer productions (check dates on teatrodellatosse.it). Avoid mid-August when even this remote village attracts Italian holidaymakers from the coast.
Are there places to stay in Apricale?
A small number of B&Bs and rental apartments within the historic center. Also agriturismo (farm stay) in the surrounding valley. The most atmospheric accommodation is in the village itself, stone-walled rooms with views down the valley that cost a fraction of equivalent accommodation on the Riviera. Book well in advance for summer weekends. For a day trip, no accommodation is needed, the village can be seen thoroughly in 3-4 hours.
What Nobody Tells You About Apricale
The reason Apricale is unknown is the same reason it is wonderful: it is genuinely hard to reach without a car, it offers nothing in the way of beach or shopping or organized tourist activity, and it makes no effort to attract visitors beyond being itself. The contemporary art in the castle is curated by someone with actual taste. The theater company that uses the hillside theater is one of the most interesting in Italy. The olive oil sold in the village is made from olives from the terraced groves on the hillside below, you can see the trees from the piazza. None of this appears in any major guidebook because major guidebooks require a certain volume of certified significance that a village of 600 people producing excellent olive oil and hosting good theater can't generate through statistics alone. Go anyway.
See also: Liguria travel guide · Dolceacqua guide · Cinque Terre · Italy's most beautiful villages.
