RESERVED AREA FOR TRAVEL AGENTS:

Some of the best Italian wines comes from the northern region Piemonte, the most famous is the Barolo wine. The area of production is around the towns of Alba – Asti – Monferrato, but not only wine is produced in this area we also find the Gancia liquores, the Ferrero chocolate and among them all the king of mushrooms used in the fine Italian cuisine truffle is producd here.We introduce our tour staying a few days in Alba visiting wine producers, learning how you hunt for truffle and we will try the delicious food of Piemonte that differs a lot from the rest of the Italian regions.

The tour brings us south following the beautiful landscape with green hills and small villages reaching the thin region of Liguria that follows the Mediterranean sea to French on the west and down through the Cinque Terre area to Tuscany on the southern tip. Many poets and painters has been describing the beauty of this region, with colorful small towns on cliffs over the sea, promenade with palm laned beaches, flowers grows everywhere and are produced along the western coastline that has taken the name of the "flower riviera"

We stay for 3 days in Liguria and we will discover the famous area of Cinque Terre, where the five villages with colorful houses ies between the green terraced slopes and the sea.

Day 1. Arrival and meeting at the airport with our tour leader.
Best airports to fly to are Torino or Milano
Our private bus drive us to the town of Alba a charming cultural town lying in a valley sorruonded by small villages and wine producers of Barolo and Barbaresco. In the evening we have dinner together.

Day 2. truffle, wine and cheese.
We start our day meeting the truffle expert Giovanni called Barot IV, the last in a generation of famous truffle hunters even well known for growing dogs specialized in finding the famous mushroom. We will have a tasting of food products made with truffle .
We will be back in Alba at lunch time we get time on our own for a light lunch.
In the afternoon we make a short excursione to the city of Cherasco, it was built in the 1300 as defense spot located on a hill above the meeting point of the 2 rivers Tanaro and Stura meets.
The city is divided in 4 parts strting from the two main roads viia Cavour and via Vittorio Emanuele. There are several important churches with mosaics and frescoes from differente epoques, some of the famous buildings are the riumf arch Arco del Belvedere, Palazzo Gotti and Palazzo Salmatoris.

If this trip is organised in fall during the month of october the afternoon can be left free in Alba (saturdays and sundays) the truffel fair is organised with several food stands giving the chance to taste some of the products produced with this famous mushroom.
Evening on your own.

Day 3. Wine day – Barolo. We start the day with a visit at the imposing Castello di Grinzane Cavour, this castle is important as it had a role in the unification of Italy, the Count of Cavour that was performing the unification in 1861. We visit a renowed wine producer and taste wines with some snacks accompining the wines. This visits introduce us to the history that rotates around the Barolo wine that is considered the king of wines and the wine of the kings.
Afternoon free and dinner together in an enoteca (wine-shop-restaurant) on the hills of Barolo.

Day 4. From Piemonte to Liguria
Before leaving we have a little time in morning to enjoy Alba, the bus brings us south to the coastal region of Liguria.
We drive trough the hilly landscape with narrow roads climbing up the hilltops where small villages and grapes are growing.on the way we make a stop for lunh on your own. Upon arrival to Santa Margherita Ligure check in at our hotel, time to exlpore this town before our dinner together.

Day 5. Excursione to Genova. The city where Christopher Columbus was born, chief town of this region and 5th Italian largest city, due to it's favorable position it has since Etruscan time been an important maritime city. During the centuries the harbour has given power and wealth and today it's one of the main Mediterranean harbours, the city lies like a theater on the sea front with mountains behind. The medieval town is in the higher part, with narrow streets that suddenly opens on elegant piazzas, few cities in the world has elevators, funicolars and palaces with entrance on the roof top, this happens in Genova.
We make a sightseeing partly by bus and on foot passing Via XX Settembre, the oriental food market, Piazza Ferrari, Teatro Carlo Felice, Palazzo Ducale, the cathedral of S. Lorenzo and Via Garibaldi the monumental road with palaces that was the seat of Genovas polical power for 500 years.
We have lunch together in the centre of the city, afternoon on your own before we return to S. Margherita and our hotel.

Day 6. Excursion in the Cinque Terre. This wonderful area on the eastern coast of the region has got it's name from the five villages that lieas along this 15 Km long coast strip Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. The landscape is outstanding with green terraces where olives, vineyards and lemons are growing above the small villages and cliffs dinking down in the blue sea, Lord Byron called this place "The paradise on earth”. People has been living here for a long time doing an imposing work of construction to create the terraces that are divided by "muretti" stone walls, all this walls together form a network of eleven thousand Km that could be compared with the Great China wall.
The best way to discover this area is using train and doing some parts by foot along one the numerous paths that follow the coastline, one of this paths is very famous "Via dell'Amore" the path of love that connects Riomaggiore to Manarola on a strach of 1,5 Kms.
Time on you own in Monterosso and you are free to catch any train you wish back to S. Margherita Ligure.
Farewell dinner together.

Day 7. return trip to departure airport.