The Trail of the Hamlets and Monte Molinasco: the contrade of San Pellegrino Terme and the three crosses above the valley

Above the spa and the art nouveau of San Pellegrino lies a valley of hanging hamlets: stone houses, hay barns, tiny churches, linked by mule tracks people used every day. The Trail of the Hamlets strings them together and ends at the three crosses of Monte Molinasco, at 1,179 metres.

The route

From the valley floor we climb to Pradello and then Alino, the village wedged below the saddle, and continue on the mule track to Cà Boffelli. From there a last stretch through the wood reaches the meadow of the Alpini hut and, ten minutes on, the crosses and the Molinasco chapel.

The descent changes slope and passes Vettarola and Frasnito: 12 kilometres and 830 metres of climb in all, on trail and short paved stretches between the hamlets.

Who it's for

• anyone who wants a full day with no exposure and no rock
• anyone who loves villages more than summits
• dog owners
• anyone training in November while staying below 1,200 metres

Good to know

Eight hundred and thirty metres of climb in autumn call for layers and poles. Lunch is packed; the Alpini hut opens at weekends and the guide checks the week before. San Pellegrino is reachable by bus from Bergamo.

Getting there

By car from Milan about one and a half hours (A4 to Bergamo, then up Val Brembana): parking at San Pellegrino Terme. Without a car: train to Bergamo and the Val Brembana bus, which stops in front of the spa.