A 39-year-old British writer spent a month in a hill village in Liguria, the rugged coastal region of northwest Italy, and came home measurably healthier: 1.6kg lighter, more than 5cm off her waist, and fit enough to stride up her commute's hill without pausing for breath. She hadn't exercised once in the formal sense.
The village itself does most of the work. Like many Ligurian towns, it was built centuries ago on steep slopes to repel invaders, and apart from a single road added in the 1960s, its streets are narrow, cobbled and car-free. Residents climb stone steps to buy groceries, which means incidental exercise is baked into daily life. The writer struggled at first on paths above 450m, huffing behind neighbours in their 80s, but within two weeks was carrying heavy bags of vegetables uphill without stopping. She averaged 8,000 steps a day, including the equivalent of 40 flights of stairs, roughly 2,000 steps more than her usual total at home in the UK.
Her neighbours are proof the lifestyle pays off. Women aged 75 to 87 told her they credit clean mountain air, simple food, tight community bonds and daily hill climbing for their longevity. An 87-year-old who calls herself "la campionessa" of ageing still walks hills daily without a stick; another could pass for 60 at 82. Ageing here is worn with pride — beachgoers of every age and shape wear bikinis, and cosmetic tweaks are rare.
Food is the second pillar. The traditional Ligurian diet grew out of rural poverty on difficult terrain: home-grown vegetables, olive oil, pulses, foraged ingredients, and meat such as rabbit or wild boar only occasionally. Snails are even a traditional protein. A slice of torta verde — a savoury pastry of rice, seasonal vegetables, egg and parmesan — costs about €2 at the village shop, a world away from the ultra-processed meal deals the writer grabs back home. Freshness matters too: spaghetti with just tomatoes, pale curved trombette courgettes and olive oil tastes of something when the produce hasn't spent days in a chilled lorry. Even allowing for far more pasta and pizza than is strictly traditional (travelling with a six-year-old will do that), the weight fell off while she ate as much as she liked. One caveat: her LDL cholesterol crept up, a reminder that extra summer wine offsets even a month of stair climbing.
The third pillar is social. Research suggests "super-agers" — over-80s with middle-aged brains — tend to have rich social lives, and loneliness can shorten lifespan as much as smoking. In August alone, this village of a few hundred hosted a history talk, a film screening, a classical concert, two parties with dancing and a children's magic show, all free and council-funded.
The writer's conclusion is refreshingly practical. Most people can't relocate to the Italian hills, but the principles travel: walk everywhere you reasonably can, eat simple seasonal food, and show up to local events. For travellers, Liguria's quiet inland villages offer a holiday that quietly rewrites your habits — and an 87-year-old's tip worth taking home: walking the hills every day keeps you young.
Original report: NZ Herald Travel