The Laghetti di Lecchiore
The natural rock pools of the Prino valley, fifteen minutes on foot from the agriturismo
On its way down to the sea, the Prino stream has carved a series of natural basins into the rock. Not one, but many, one after another along the watercourse: some small and shallow, others four or five metres deep.
They are fifteen minutes on foot from Casa Asplanato.
Getting there
You go by footpath, under the woods. The route is shaded almost all the way, and in summer that makes the difference: you walk in the cool even at midday. Several paths lead down to the stream, and each one ends at a different pool.
We recommend closed shoes rather than sandals: the last stretch down to the water is over rock.
The water
It is stream water, so it is cold. The first plunge takes your breath away, and after that you don't want to get out. It is the feeling you remember from childhood summers, and that you never get in a swimming pool.
In the larger pools you can properly swim. The smaller ones further upstream are only a few centimetres deep and are good for children.
The dry-stone walls
As you walk, you see the terraces all around: walls of stone held together without mortar, one stone on top of another. Some are over a thousand years old. Generations of farmers built them to win a few metres of workable soil from the mountain — the same people who planted the olive trees we tend today.
It is this landscape that makes this valley so different from the coast a few kilometres away.
When to go
From June to September the water is at the right temperature. In the hottest months, mornings are better: by the afternoon the best spots fill up.
Bring drinking water and take your rubbish home with you. There are no bars and no bins — which is exactly why it is still like this.
Where we are
Casa Asplanato is in Lecchiore, above Dolcedo. Our six apartments have a pool, but the laghetti are something else — and they are right below us. We'll show you the best path when you arrive.
