Nasino is a small agricultural village spread across the Pennavaire valley, sheltered between the southern slopes of Monte Galero (1,708 m) and the steep face of Monte Peso Grande (1,092 m). The valley straddles the provinces of Imperia, Cuneo, and Savona, and is surrounded by woods and pastures that give the area a quietly scenic character.
The valley has been inhabited for an extraordinarily long time. Numerous caves here were used — either permanently or seasonally — from the end of the Epigravettian period, around 9,000 years ago, right through to the Roman era. Finds from the Savona caves are on display at the Civico Museo Inguano in nearby Albenga.
In the medieval period, Nasino was a fief of the marchesi Del Carretto of Balestrino, who built a castle at the locality of Vignoletto, in an excellent strategic position above the valley. The ruins are still visible. In 1202 the marchesi signed a pact with the Republic of Genoa that held until 1735, when the fief passed to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
The village's seventeenth-century parish church of San Giovanni Battista is worth a look, as is the shrine of the Madonna di Curagna, which was originally the principal church of the whole valley. Monte Galero (1,708 m) above the village offers the best walking in the area, with views to the Ligurian coast on clear days.