Description
This long circuit is mostly on easy paths, mule tracks or even little roads. The sixth stage is different, as the route follows faint tracks in places. But this is a "new" route and the whole route will soon be in ideal conditions.
The Alto Tanaro Tour starts at Barchi di Ormea and runs a complete circuit around the valley. It might have seemed more obvious to start in Garessio, but as there is no stopover accommodation in Barchi, the idea was abandoned. The fact that the stages start and end close to the valley bottom and that there is a public bus service in Valle Tanaro makes it possible to start or end the walk almost anywhere. Cutting it to the length you prefer starting with the full nine stages.Precisely because of the variation in height it is difficult to indicate an ideal season, probably between September and October after checking that the stopover accommodation is open. If hot weather doesn't bother you, apart from years with a lot of snow you can do the route from late spring onwards, when Rifugio Don Barbera opens, and even earlier for the lower stages. The stopovers are often in managed refuges and at times in hotel accommodation in the villages in the valley.
Difficulté = Medium