A day in Molare — the Green Canyon, a castle and the Orba

Most of the Monferrato is about the grape. Molare isn't. It sits at the southern edge of the region, in the province of Alessandria just below Ovada, where the Orba torrent comes down out of the Ligurian Apennines and the hills turn to chestnut wood. Come here for the river, not the cellar — and give it a full day, because the best of it is a walk and a swim rather than a tasting.

A slow start in the village

Molare is small enough to read in an hour. The medieval castle is the thing you'll see first on the way in — a round brick tower beside a taller square keep, riding above the rooftops. It's a private home and you can't go inside, but the lanes below give you the view. Wander down to the Antico Lavatoio, the old covered washhouse where the village once did its laundry, and over to Palazzo Tornielli di Crestvolant, a neoclassical noble house on its own quiet square, corner turrets and all — it opens for events and visits, with a ballroom under a triumphal arch and a "Bishop's room" ceiling worked in gold leaf.

Start it, though, with a coffee. Angels' Cafè is the busiest bar in town and the one to aim for — hundreds of regulars can't all be wrong — but Matebù and the Cardamomo Ristobar both hold their own if you'd rather a quieter table. Any of them will set you up for the walk to come.

The Green Canyon

This is why you came. The Canyon di Molare — the "Green Canyon" — is a wild stretch of the Orba where the water runs a clear, swimmable green between wooded rock walls, with pebble beaches and pools deep enough to dive into. It's a five-minute walk from the car park, but a steep one: wear trainers or proper shoes, not flip-flops, or you'll slide on the descent. The association that looks after it runs a small annual membership (around €20 for adults, less for children), which brings free parking, hot showers, and a bar, restaurant and campsite tucked into the trees. It stays refreshingly unmanicured and rarely crowded — nobody collects the rubbish, so carry yours back out — and on a hot afternoon there's nowhere better in the southern Monferrato to cool off.

If the water's not your thing, climb instead to the Santuario Nostra Signora delle Rocche, the Marian sanctuary on the wooded slopes above the village, open to pilgrims every day and cared for by the Passionist community. It's a calm, shaded counterpoint to the river.

The dam that broke

Up the valley lies Molare's darker story. On 13 August 1935 the Bric Zerbino dam gave way after a day of freak rain, and the reservoir behind it came down the Orba in a wall of water that killed more than a hundred people between here and Ovada. The broken concrete barrage and its one surviving tower still stand in the gorge, reached on foot from the valley road — a stark, quiet place, and worth the detour if you like your landscapes with a bit of history in them.

Travelling with children instead? The Parco Faunistico dell'Appennino sits at the mouth of the upper Orba valley, where roe deer and other animals share wooded enclosures with a picnic area of tables and barbecues — an easy, low-key half-day out.

Lunch and dinner

Molare eats well for its size. For a full sit-down meal the Osteria Gallo Nero is the local favourite, while Il Girasole — busy year in, year out — is the safe crowd-pleaser. If the day's ended up more about swimming than ceremony, keep it simple: Pizza Pazza for a proper pizza, or SPIZZICami for something quick and casual near the square.

Time it to a festa

Come in the first half of September and the village hands you an evening. The Camminata Enigmistica a Squadre is a team puzzle-walk — 3.5 km of easy trail broken up by riddle stations, scored as you go, ending with cold rice and sangria at the Pro Loco; kids under ten walk free. The same stretch of the calendar brings Molare's date in L'Altro Monferrato, the touring theatre festival that crosses the Apennines between Piedmont and Liguria and turns Piazza del Comune into an open-air stage for a night. And in mid-October, up in the hamlet of Battagliosi, the Castagnata e Fiazein pairs roast chestnuts with fiazein, the local flatbread — a tiny frazione's own autumn get-together, free to join, most visitors never find it. Bring cash and come hungry.