• Bike: strada/trekking
  • Difficulty: ****
  • Distance: 68 km
  • Altitude difference: 274 m
  • Total ascent: 1264 m
  • Total descent: 1308 m

This route begins in Arquata Scrivia and ends in Ovada.
Head out straight away from Arquata Scrivia, a town on the border of Piedmont and Liguria, and go up to the sports fields, taking the road to Pratolungo. At the top of the second climb, you will enter the municipality of Gavi and go down into a beautiful valley of planted fields and woods. At the end of the valley, cross the SP 161 provincial road and turn left towards the village of Gavi, whose fortress you will begin to see in the distance. After visiting Gavi's historic centre and fortress, which you reach by going up a steep climb, carry on along the SP 158 towards Novi Ligure. At the junction with the SP 159, turn left towards Tassarolo. The areas you cross are full of the Gavi DOCG vineyards that give shape to the territory with its harmonious, neat rows. Once you've passed Tassarolo, carry on to Francavilla Bisio where you'll take the SP 178 over the Lemme stream to reach Capriata d’Orba on the stream of the same name. Once you've crossed over to the left bank of the Orba, take the bridge over the A26 and turn left along the SP 185 for brief time. When you reach the junction, turn right in Schierano then take the SP 191 to Rocca Grimalda, crossing a landscape dedicated to the cultivation of the Dolcetto d’Ovada DOC grape. From here, you pass through a series of other villages with castles - Carpeneto, Trisobbio, Morsasco and Cremolino - before finally coming down into Ovada along Strada San Bernardo.