Archive for 'Northwest Italy'

If you are a music-lover looking to holiday in Italy this summer, this might be the perfect thing for you. The Stresa Festival, or Festival Settimane Musicali di Stresa, founded in 1961 by Venetian lawyer Italo Trentinaglia de Daverio, is being celebrated for the 54th time this year. Running in July and August, it takes place in the town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore in Piedmont, as well as in some of the surrounding areas.

Held annually, the Stresa Festival is one of Europe's most important international classical music festivals. The festival also plays host to very popular open-air jazz concerts in addition to classical music today.

A visit to the Palazzo Borromeo on Lake Maggiore in Piedmont is a truly unique experience. The palace takes up the entirety of the island, Isola Bella, on which it is located and boasts stunning sights inside and out.

Previously, the island was a barren rock and home to a small fishing village. Construction of the palace was begun in 1632 by Carlo III Borromeo, who named the island after his wife, Isabella, and continued by his sons. The extensive gardens were constructed from earth brought over on boats to cover the rocky terrain and completed by Carlo IV, his nephew.

Spend a magical vacation in Cuneo town and province in the Piedmont region. The stunning variety of landscapes surround this peaceful town are truly astounding. Explore the hills, mountains, valleys, forests and winding rivers that define the beauty of the third largest province in Italy.

Begin your experience of Cuneo with a walk around its iconic central square called Piazza Galimberti. It was named after the famous Italian Resistance hero called Tancredi Galimberti. This Neoclassical piazza took over fifty years to fully complete and its encompassing walls are adorned with memorable quotes from Galimberti.

If you’re holidaying near Cuneo in the winter months you can enjoy a few days of skiing at Limone Piemonte. This is one of the oldest skiing resorts in Italy and certainly one of the nicest! Also worth a walk around is the Church of San Francesco which houses the Civic Museum of Cuneo.

Although Torino ski resort in Piedmont is most frequented by holiday makers in the winter months, this enchanting resort would be a superb place to visit all year around.

Ski enthusiasts have over one hundred ski lifts to bring them to the starting points of over 1500 kilometres of slopes to ski down in the winter months.

There are lots of traditional and new age snow sports available in Torino to try out!

Or pull on your winter hiking boots and embark on a refreshing guided Alpine tour that will bring you on paths through the incredible mountain scenery of the area, any time of the year. If you feel like letting someone else do all the exercise then book in for a high speed sled dog tour that will zoom you around the Torino ski resort in style!

Spend a superb few days in the beautiful town of Limone sul Garda, situated on the shores of Lake Garda in Lombardy.

It’s named after the famous cultivation of lemons here and is a very popular tourist destination.

As well as visiting Limone sul Garda you could also stop off in other communes here such as Malcesine, Sirmione and attractions like Scaliger castle.