Castelvittorio is a tiny hilltop village in the upper Nervia Valley, perched on a ridge a couple of kilometres south of Pigna. It is the kind of place most visitors find by accident — there is no real reason to drive up here unless you are exploring the valley properly — but the layout of the old village is unusually well preserved, and the views down into the Nervia gorge are exceptional.
The village was rebuilt and renamed after King Victor Emmanuel II in 1862 (the original name was Castel Dho), but the structure is medieval: a single spine of stone houses winding along the crest, with covered passageways, vaulted alleys, and tall narrow buildings rising flush from the bedrock. The parish church of Santo Stefano stands at one end; a small belvedere at the other looks down toward the river. Allow an hour to wander the lanes.
The surrounding hills are crossed by the same network of mule paths and high-altitude trails that links Pigna to the mountains above, and Castelvittorio is a useful starting point for walks into the Ligurian Alps. The road up from the valley floor is narrow and winding — a confident driver and a small car make the trip a lot easier.