Framura

Framura , a ladder to heaven. Not many people know this stretch of coast of the eastern riviera, squeezed between Sestri Levante and the Cinque Terre. Yet, Framura could very well be considered the sixth land, and no one would have anything to say about it. A walk in its hamlets is enough to realize their tremendous beauty. Framura is all about walking in well-kept alleys, squares where you literally fly with your gaze on the sea below, cultivated gardens and a silence that still allows you to listen to the nightingales.i.

Framura - Setta locality

On this page we will learn everything you need to know before visiting Framura. We will let you book its best hotels, agritourisms and b & bs, we will go for a swim in its sea and its beaches, we will take a look at the weather and we will see how to move between Bonassola and Framura on foot along its cycle path up to Levanto.

We really like Framura, absolutely one of the most particular places in Liguria, so much so that no one, if not regulars, knows that a real Framura does not even exist: the municipality is divided into five independent hamlets, five steps that rise from the sea up to the ridge where the cliff meets the clouds. In between, the usual handful of pastel houses with green shutters that make Liguria so much, Saracen towers, small ports created in the middle of the rocks by human tenacity, and an amazing feeling of peace and harmony with nature.

Framura hotels

Where to sleep in Framura There are a good number of hotels, and we have taken the trouble to select the best ones for you, those with the best value for money, those where you can stay with little but being well, in contact with the sea and an infinite view over it. Whether they are bed and breakfast or farmhouse, there is all our taste in this essential part of the holiday or the small weekend you are planning in this delightful (and amateur) piece of Liguria in miniature that is Framura..

Framura porticciolo

Framura sea and beaches

The sea of Framura you grab it immediately, as soon as you get off the train. It is immediately next to us, and it is enough to go down a couple of steps to conquer it. There are five beaches in Framura , all within easy walking distance of the station, even with children.

Torsei beach is the first one you meet. Like all the other beaches in Framura, at first glance it can be mistaken for a swimming pool, it is so crystalline and transparent. It is very Liguria since it occupies the space right under the railway wall, which gives it shade, especially in the early morning. It is a pebble and pebble beach, where it is better to have rock shoes to enter the water. It is equipped with a snack bar and a shower to shake off the salt. It can be more or less crowded during the season, but still worth a stop.a.
A little further on, there is the tourist port of Framura, which is certainly not a beach but where, when there is little confusion and little movement of boats, you can absolutely swim, as much as the sea is beautiful. It can be reached from the cycle path above via a staircase or an elevator, or via a descent directly from the parking lot just outside the station tunnel. The port of Framura is enchanting and for those of us who hang out and know a little about Greece, there is the feeling of being in the south coast of Crete, like Hora Sfakion.
Go up on the cycle-pedestrian, just beyond the lift and the Agave restaurant, take the first tunnel of the old disused railway and soon you will meet the detour, now barred with a gate, to one of the most characteristic beaches of Framura, that of Porto. Louse. Porto Pidocchio is another natural swimming pool, with high walls that protect it and make its sea calm and smooth even on days of great wind. The gate was positioned to dissuade access due to the danger of falling rocks, but the beach is still easily accessible, perhaps not too much with small children, but for everyone else, no problem. The colors of the sea are unique, and the only gripe is the erosion of the sea and the feeling that the municipality of Framura must intervene more to improve its safety and bathing: despite the beautiful ladder that leads to it, there is the feeling that Porto Pidocchio is left to its fate. We hope someone reads and intervenes! Going back up after taking a bath in Porto Pidocchio, we forget to continue towards Bonassola and go back to the station. In fact, from here begins the most spectacular promenade of Bonassola, the sea route. The via del mare is a magical pedestrian strip carved into the cliff that allows you to move between the beach of Torsei and the beach of Vallà.
Also called simply the beach of Framura, the beach of Vallà is 800 meters of pure enjoyment for the view, a whole magnificent view, at any time of the day, but especially at sunset. In absolute terms, we can say that taking the sea route is the thing to do in Framura that you just cannot fail to put in your pocket before returning home. Among other things, the stairs that allow you to go up to the villages of Framura, Anzo-Setta and Costa, the ones where the locals live and which are the ones that will definitely make you fall in love with Framura, branch off along the promenade. But now we are talking about beaches and we are interested in letting you know that La vallà beach is an equipped and very well maintained beach, protected by the breakwater. Particular this introduces to an always calm sea, and needless to say, limpid and crystalline. The vallà is a free equipped beach, therefore with free access but where it is possible to rent deckchairs and umbrellas. There is a shower and a tap, but no restaurant or bar. For that, you need to go back to Torsei beach and the station.e.
The valley is therefore truly the top of Framura's beaches, but it is not the last. There is also the beach of the Arena, a quiet cove of pebbles in the first section and then sand going a little further away, and always very wild, also very popular with pet owners, making it a bit like Framura's dog beach. .”.

Framura what to see

The town is divided into five hamlets and therefore what to see in Framura is a continuous movement, or rather ups and downs, between the villages that meet within the municipality of Framura. Starting from the sea to go up, they are the following: Anzo, Ravecca, Setta, Costa, Castagnola, and they are all connected to each other not only by the normal road which gradually gets narrower, so much so as to hope not to cross the bus, but also from a pedestrian staircase that makes it clear how our grandparents moved. They certainly didn't need to be runners to keep fit!a!

Indeed is the first of the hamlets of Framura starting from the bottom, and here we have the Church of the Madonna della Neve , unusual in its color and with its red bricks, and a Genoese watchtower dating back to 1500. There is not much else to see in this first village, because Anzo historically was a holiday resort for Genoese nobles, and so from behind the walls we can glimpse large gardens, villas of other times, cypresses and towers of when the Art Nouveau was the fashion of the moment.

Ravecca it is the village that hosts what we can define as true historic center of Framura . Here it really seems to take a stroll in the Middle Ages, silence is always the protagonist, and the steps unfold next to small private chapels, and make a slalom between pot-bellied pots of succulents and cacti.

Sect it is the heart of Framura's sociability, and one of the places where we love to spend most of our time in this locality. Here you will find the town hall, the pharmacy, two bars and a few small shops necessary to avoid having to take the car every day. In Setta there is a hairdresser and a bakery, a deli and a pizzeria, the indispensable playground for children, it goes without saying with a sea view that carries away even the worries of parents in a thousand thoughts.

It costs

Going up again, it is impossible not to mention It costs among what to see in Framura. Costa is the sighting village about 300 meters above sea level, the one that contains the most important things to visit in Framura from a historical and architectural point of view. The star of the fraction is therea Carolingian Tower , one of the oldest in Liguria, partly built as early as 800 AD. Next to her, you will find the Church of San Martino , which among other things preserves a work by Bernardo Strozzi, a great exponent of Baroque art.

In Costa di Framura there is a bar / restaurant and a bus stop, but above all what is striking is that here time really has a different relevance. There is the whole dimension of the countryside still very present, there are people who tenaciously cultivate, there are people who cook at home, who have been left behind without having wanted to - by the machine company. And there is a strong feeling that this was fortunate that for us citizens (oh how far Genoa seems from down here, yet it is only 50 minutes by car!) It was not reserved for us, we are always in pursuit of a life that the more you advance in progress the more you do ultimately anti-human. We could, and would like, be wrong.

Before leaving Framura, among its villages and hamlets to visit, it is also worth mentioning Castagnola , which you have to cross to reach Deiva Marina and its highway exit. It doesn't take much to park your car, and maybe have a coffee at his ACLI club. Breathe in the fresh air and maybe pick some figs to take home to remember the sweetness of this old-time Framura.

Finally, it deserves a separate note Maremonti cycle-pedestrian path , which ends in Framura and begins its splendid 6 km run up to Levanto. Created using the old track of the disused railway after doubling upstream, it leads cyclists and pedestrians to discover one of the most beautiful corners of Liguria. After 2.4 km it makes a first stop crossing the village and the beach of Bonassola. After a further 2.6 km, it leads to Levanto. From here, hopefully in the near future the Framura cycle path will reach Monterosso, allowing you to directly connect the village to the Cinque Terre. What a dream it would be to prolong it to the other extreme, maybe until Moneglia!

Framura how to arrive and park

We almost always recommend get to Framura in train , especially for those interested in experiencing it from the sea and along its cycle path. In this case, just take the car to Sestri Levante, or Levanto, and then continue the last piece on the rail.
There are no direct services to get to Framura by train from the large northern cities: only regional trains stop at Framura, and the only direct connection with an important location is with Genoa.

For all the others, you can always get to Framura in machine , along the A12 motorway and exiting at the Deiva Marina exit, and then continuing for about a quarter of an hour, up to the chosen parking location. In this regard, in fact, a minimum of planning is required.

Location Setta

Parking in Framura in fact, in high season, it is extremely difficult, and it becomes more and more complicated as you get closer to the sea and the station. Each of the five hamlets of Framura has a parking area, of which many spaces are reserved for residents: the premises must be given priority. For this, the bus that connects the villages to the sea and to the station helps. Knowing the timetables, you can simply park in Castagnola, Costa, or Setta-Ravecca, and then get off the bus. Or even on foot, perhaps on the way out, and take the vehicle just to avoid the climb on the way back!

The views of Andrea and Katerina

Framura is our little gem. So much so that some summers, we took our bicycle down here by train and left it parked with a chain and lock at the beginning of the cycle path: you will see many left like this. Just be careful not to forget it, that the municipality every end of October cleans up the forgotten ones!

Framura, for Andrea and Katerina, has the real taste of a vacation, totally unplugged, made of rock and elements. And not only is there the sea but there is that countryside that reminds us so much that we know that sooner or later we will have to leave the city for a place like it. And then it is so close to Bonassola, another beloved, and completes it in so many ways, that you don't need to go elsewhere to feel and experience the spirit of Liguria.

Framura is a small treasure chest that contains exactly what we are and have been able to create on our territory, between our rocky beaches and our steep and tiring mountains.