Cereseto→Villadeati

Description of the route

From the town hall of Cereseto, at the foot of the castle, the route quickly leaves the village and crosses an orchard downhill. In a few minutes you lose altitude until you cross the state road; beyond this point the first real ascent of the day begins. The slope is initially gentle, then becomes more continuous and leads to a road that runs alongside the cemetery. A short descent into the undergrowth offers shade before the new climb through hazelnut groves and vineyards.

The path thus reaches the slopes of the Sacro Monte di Crea, one of the most important cultural and landscape references of the entire crossing. The sanctuary and the natural park are worth a stop, also because from here the view opens onto the surrounding hills and, on clear days, the Alpine range. After leaving Crea, follow the Superga–Crea itinerary for a stretch, maintaining altitude up to Ponzano Monferrato.

From Ponzano you go down passing between the two places called Perni, lower and upper, then you go up again into the woods. Near Guazzolo the path crosses a vineyard and continues through cultivated fields on a large and easily legible site. The bottom then becomes gravel and the landscape changes again: you enter the natural park of the former Cardona quarries, where vegetation and morphology take on a different character compared to the vineyard hills of the first part.

The last kilometers take place inside and on the edges of the park. The trend remains choppy but regular and progressively accompanies towards Villadeati. The arrival in via Roma closes a stage that continuously alternates vineyards, hazelnut groves, woods, places of spirituality and naturalistic areas: a very complete synthesis of the northern Monferrato.