HIDDEN TREASURES OF NORTHERN ITALY: THE PRIVATE HERITAGE TOUR

The day starts from Stresa – Lake Maggiore with a boat tour of the Borromean Islands and then you will reach the lovely little town Omegna on the top of Lake Orta where Alessi, the steel design manufacturer, has its factories and showroom. Then you will move down to the delightful Orta San Giulio where you will have an aperitif in the cosy square, siding the small lake and overlooking the tiny island which still hosts a monastery. Tonight you will experience an amazing gourmet dinner and night at an awesome property by the lake. The day after you will move to the Alps and specifically to Valsesia and Biella “cashmere districts”, heritage of two other historical Italian families: Loro Piana and Zegna. In the morning in Varallo Sesia you will have the opportunity to visit the outstanding Sacro Monte, the best preserved sample of the “educational barrier” the Roman Catholic Church built centuries ago against the Protestant threat, spreading down from Geneva and the Swiss Alps towards Italy. In the afternoon you will reach Biella to visit the Oasi Zegna, an open air museum build by Ermenegildo Zegna, the founder of the company producing outstanding textiles. End the day in Turin.

To Italians Turin means dinasties: the Savoy Monarchy and the Agnelli family car producer. The strong industrial heritage of this city meant that for decades Italians looked to it as an ugky duck, but since the Winter Olympic games in 2006 everyting changed and now the city has converted into a real swann. You will visit the masterpiecies built by the two families, from the outstanding, optical Galleria Grande at the Venaria Reale to the Car Testing Helicoydal Ramp at the Lingotto, from the Guarini Chapel hosting the Sacred Shroud to the Officina Grandi Riparazioni where train used to be built, from the rationalism masterpiece of the Regio Theater to the historical cafés where you will have the chance to taste the best chocolate in Italy, from the landmarking Mole Antonelliana to the Egyptian Museum, second just to the one in Cairo – Egypt.

Explore the post industrial new gold mines: the vineyards, the “slow food” philosophy and the neverending empire of the Ferrero Family – producer of the iconic Nutella spread. Leaving Turin you will arrive in Barolo and Langhe where food and wine meet art and history: from the Barolo wine cellars and the Barolo Chapel by Sol Lewitt to the FAI Manta Castle with its enchanting middle age tale of the youth fountain. You will enjoy an unforgettable dinner at a top Michelin star restaurant in the cosy town of Alba and you will visit the old Monastery now hosting the Slow Food University in Pollenzo. In the late afternoon you will cross the last section of the Maritime Alps and climbe down to the Doria kingdom: Genoa.

Discover the “black and white striped town”, the architectural pattern branding Genoa legacy everywhere throughout the Mediterranean: San Lorenzo Cathedral with its underground treasure museum, Palazzo Rosso and Bianco in the Strada Nuova , Palazzo Ducale, Palazzo Reale, cosy Boccadasse and the lovely neighborhood of Nervi with its wondeful park overlooking the sea. The second day you will move a few miles east reaching the beautiful Camogli, a Ligurian Manhattan, with its middle age tall buildings ending on the Tigullio gulf. From Camogli a boat will take you first to San Fruttuoso, a maritime village build around the Abbey hosting the Doria pantheon and then to the “postcard” Portofino ending to Santa Margherita, from where you will reach Milan in the evening.