Next date: March 9th to 16th, 2024

Spring awakening in Bella Italia! While the Alps demand a fair amount of frost in March, there is usually a warm wind blowing in the northern Italian Apennines. It's not just the Caffe Corretto that warms you, no, Italy's sun caresses your spirit. But can you also paddle there? Pero si, ragazzi! Trebbia and Aveto are true dream rivers: clear blue water in deep gorges. Never difficult, but always beautiful. And because we're taking a whole week's vacation, more of the region's river pearls are on the tour plan.

Prehistory

Shy, haven't you even had enough of all the paddling? Isn't it enough? Well, to be honest, I start to wonder. The question about all the years (decades) now and then arises not only to fellow human beings. And then I catch myself in the cold, rainy December, at two o'clock at night on the motorway towards Genoa. The boats on the roof, the sleeping friends on the back seat, and full of anticipation for four days of rainy weather paddling on the Ligurian coast. The magic of low mountain range paddling, of course mainly in autumn and winter, has me under control. The next day the chestnuts roll on the path to the entrance. The water not only rushes in the brook, but also pushes out of every pore of mother earth. Well, friends, this is my home!

The Tour

For a long time I have wanted to show you this beautiful spot, which is only a five-hour drive from Munich. Share this unknown side of the paddling area Italy with you. Now the time has come! Paddling on the coastal creeks of the south canopy near Genoa and La Spezia cannot really be planned. We have always strictly timed all of our trips for heavy rainfall, which is not possible with weeks or months in advance. The rivers draining north to the Po Plain are completely different: the continentally exposed spring region usually allows a blanket of snow until April, making meltwater safe. The catchment areas are also larger, which can be seen, among other things, from the extensive gravel beds, which, as mighty rivers of debris, pave the way to northern Italy's lifeline, the Po.

Before the rivers become gravelly in the broad floodplain landscape, they cut through deep, impressive gorges, which are rarely destroyed by reservoirs due to the sharply changing water flow over the course of the year. A real paddling paradise! Steady current, a varied riverbed with lively, sometimes slightly blocked rapids, tricky passages in front of steep walls and repeated strolls to look at the landscape. While the Trebbia makes its way through the mountains of Emilia Romagna in a completely unregulated manner, the course of the Aveto is slowed down by a reservoir and a diversion power plant. It's a shame about the rocky gorge filled with heavy white water, which is dry most of the year. Good for paddlers in the lower reaches and on the Trebbia - the power plant guarantees a constant supply of water at the best time of day.

All sections of the valley can be reached in just a short drive from our base camp at Marsaglia, and it is only a stone's throw to Bobbio, the friendly town at the end of the mountains.