The Story of Agriturismo I Due Ghiri

We found an old stone farmhouse nestled in the greenery of Calice al Cornoviglio, in the hills inland from La Spezia. It was an ancient house, made silent by time, waiting for a new life. We fell in love with it at first sight.
We still remember the feeling of that first day: the scent of the forest after the rain, the view of rolling hills gently descending toward the distant sea, and the silence broken only by birdsong.
Not everyone would have bet on this remote corner of Eastern Liguria — but we did.
We told ourselves: “This is where our agriturismo will be born.”
The Cinque Terre were less than an hour away, La Spezia and the Gulf of Poets just down the valley, and up here in the hills reigned the peace and simplicity of a rural world that time had almost forgotten.
It was the perfect place for our life project.

Getting started wasn’t easy. With enthusiasm and a touch of recklessness, we rolled up our sleeves and faced months (actually, years) of hard work to restore the farmhouse.
Stone by stone, we reinforced the walls, repaired the roof, uncovered the original terracotta floors and vaulted ceilings.
During the renovation, we had a special encounter: two tiny dormice peeked out from the old walls and curiously watched us. They were the original residents of the house!
We took that meeting as a good omen. And in honor of those two little creatures, our dream found its name — Agriturismo “I Due Ghiri”.

There was no shortage of obstacles: long days of work under the sun, endless bureaucracy, and moments when fatigue made us question everything.
It took immense energy and strength to overcome each difficulty.
We learned to understand the land, to prune the ancient olive trees, to dig the vegetable garden, and to care for the animals on the farm.
Each sunrise brought new challenges: a fence to fix, firewood to chop for the winter, vegetables to save from the summer drought.
And yet, each sunset brought its own small joys and satisfactions: seeing a field cleared, tasting our first jam made with homegrown plums, smelling fresh bread baking in our oven.

Finally, after so much dedication, the day came to open our doors to our very first guests. What an emotion it was to welcome our first travelers!
We still remember that evening clearly: we invited them into our old cellar, transformed into a cozy communal dining room, its stone vaults glowing in the warm light of candles. Around a large shared table, we served homemade pesto, wine from the nearby hills, and freshly baked bread.
Strangers just hours earlier became friends over laughter and stories. That night, sitting at the table with them, we realized all the sacrifices had been worth it: we were welcoming people into our home and sharing with them our simple, genuine way of life.

Since then, dinner after dinner, story after story, our agriturismo truly began to come alive. The old cellar became the beating heart of I Due Ghiri: every evening, we sit down with our guests to enjoy traditional Ligurian dishes prepared with vegetables from our organic garden, local cheeses, and extra virgin olive oil from our own trees. Each dinner feels like a little celebration — with a good glass of wine, maybe a taste of our homemade grappa, and most of all, the sharing of experiences.
Often, after a day spent exploring the Cinque Terre or the seaside villages of the Gulf of Poets, our guests return to find not only a warm meal waiting for them, but also two friends ready for a chat by the fireplace or beneath a stunning starlit sky. 
That’s how we’ve always imagined hospitality: making everyone feel like part of the family, and creating memories that last.

It’s been 27 years since the day we decided to move here and bring our agriturismo to life.
When we think about it, it almost feels unreal, it was the 1990s, we were just in our early thirties, full of dreams, and today we have “a few more years behind us”, and maybe a few gray hairs too!
And yet, when we look back, we realize that something has never changed: our passion for this work remains as strong as ever, as does the joy of welcoming you into our home.
Every new season still excites us like the very first.
We prepare the rooms with care, bake cakes for breakfast while thinking of who will arrive, and check the garden to see which vegetables are ready to be harvested and brought to the table.
That enthusiasm hasn’t faded over the years, if anything, it has grown with every encounter, and with every story our guests share from their journey.

Today, Agriturismo I Due Ghiri is a well-established reality, a farmhouse in Liguria near the Cinque Terre and La Spezia that we are proud of,  yet it still holds on to the same simple spirit we had when we first began.
All around us, the Val di Vara continues to offer breathtaking scenery in every season: the wild colors of autumn in the woods, the muffled silence of snowfall in winter, the explosion of wildflowers in spring, and the starry, cicada-filled nights of summer.
We continue to live in harmony with these slow rhythms, sharing with our guests our love for nature, authentic cuisine, and the traditions of old-fashioned Liguria.
The location of our agriturismo remains one of its greatest gifts: in just thirty minutes by car, our guests can reach La Spezia and gaze out over the deep blue sea of the Gulf of Poets, and in under an hour, they can be strolling through the narrow alleys of the Cinque Terre villages.
Yes, we’re close to the Cinque Terre, but far enough to offer the peace and quiet that’s hard to find along the coast during tourist season.
It’s a joy in the evening to see our travelers return, tired but smiling, after a day spent exploring Monterosso, Vernazza, or perhaps the marble quarries of Carrara — and to watch them enjoy the cool hilltop breeze, the chirping of crickets, and a rustic dish that smells of basil and care.
In those moments, we know our original goal — to let visitors experience the most authentic side of Liguria, has truly been achieved.

Looking back from 1997 to today, we realize we've written many pages of this story, pages filled with hard work, constant discovery, and unforgettable encounters.
And yet, we feel there's still so much more to tell.

Every year, we add something new, whether it’s planting a new fruit tree, experimenting with a forgotten traditional recipe, or simply continuing to improve the hospitality we offer.
We're more convinced than ever that the choice we made back then, the one that seemed a little crazy, was actually the right path for us.

The story of Agriturismo I Due Ghiri goes on, and every guest who arrives becomes part of it.
We await you here in our hills, come visit us, sit at our table, and let us share another piece of our life with you.
Together, we can write the next chapters of this beautiful adventure, under the Ligurian sky, just a short step from the sea of the Cinque Terre, yet immersed in the timeless quiet of the Val di Vara.
We welcome you into our home with a warm smile and a glass of wine, ready to share the next emotion with you.

After all, if you’re looking for an agriturismo near the Cinque Terre or La Spezia that offers authenticity, tranquility, and genuine human warmth, know that it all began with the wild dream of two young people in love with a hillside.
That dream is still alive, in the stones of this house, in the flavors of our kitchen, and in our hearts.
And it can’t wait to welcome you.