Peaks, Ports & Palazzi

Fly from London to Turin and transfer to the central 4-star Grand Hotel Sitea for three nights. Enjoy a welcome drink.

A walking tour this morning will give you your bearings in Turin, and shows you city landmarks including its most magnificent, the lavish 16th-17th century royal residence, Palazzo Reale. Afternoon free to explore Turin, nestled between two rivers, backed by alpine peaks, and filled with regal façades, grand piazzas, broad boulevards, chic shops, and an open market.
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Visit Turin’s Egyptian Museum, second only to Cairo’s Grand Museum in its scope and number of ancient artefacts. Relics of everyday life take their place along with musical instruments, mummified remains, and massive marble statues of the Gods. Continue to the Palazzo Carignano, recognised for the sinuous curves of its innovative architecture, and now housing the National Museum of the Risorgimento (resurgence), Italy’s mid-18th to late 19th century political reunification. Enjoy a tasting of Turin’s traditional hot drink, Bicerin, a rich mix of coffee, chocolate and milk. Afternoon at leisure to savour the city.
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Travel to Mount Superga, overlooking Turin from the south bank of the River Po, to visit its 18th-century Basilica, the ‘Sanctuary of Turin’. Breathtaking views from the cupola were described by Rousseau as “the most wonderful sight that can strike the human eye”; the Royal Crypt holds the tombs of Savoy kings and princes; the central chapel has splendid statuary; and the Room of Popes is filled with papal portraits. Visit Venaria Reale and its UNESCO-listed Reggia royal palace. The monumental baroque building is ostentatious and enormous, its style and stature matched by glorious gardens, a striking fountain, and imposing stables. Continue to Romano Canavese, a small town in Italy’s alpine slow-lane, for two nights at the historic 4-star Villa Matilde. Enjoy a Welcome drink and appetisers.
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Travel through spectacular mountain scenery, past vineyards and fortress ruins, to characterful Courmayeur, set at the foot of Mont Blanc, with two historic churches, café culture in its cobbled streets, and terrific Alpine views. Continue to Aosta town, at the heart of the eponymous valley, where well-preserved Roman relics include ancient roads, an amphitheatre and Forum, while medieval art and architecture focuses on the frescoed cathedral and Sant’Orso Collegiate cloisters.
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Depart for Monferrato, one of Piedmont’s most famous wine regions, its vineyards tucked in the southeast corner of the province and producing namesake Rosso and Bianco wines, which we will taste today. Continue to Genoa, where a walking tour takes you through the Palazzi dei Rolli area, its 42 grand Baroque and Renaissance palaces built in the 16th to 18th centuries, and collectively awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. Visit the striking Palazzo Rosso (red palace), now a museum with a rich collection of period art and artefacts. Three nights at the 5-star Grand Hotel Savoia in central Genoa. Welcome drink in the hotel bar.
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Drive to nearby Rapallo, with its waterfront watchtower, palm-tree promenade, trompe-l’oeil façades, and hilltop Sanctuary pilgrimage site; continue to Santa Margherita Ligure, ‘pearl of the Ligurian coast’, a lively town in a lovely sheltered bay, with Belle Epoch buildings and an air of elegance; and sail to famous Portofino, for a walking tour of the former fishing village, now visited by super-yachts, its cobbled Piazzetta hemmed with seafood restaurants, its half-moon harbour dotted with chic designer shops. Return to Genoa for a short walking tour between the stately merchant mansions of the Via Garibaldi, originally named Via Aurea (Golden Road); and visit the 16th century Villa del Principe, now a museum, set in splendid gardens and overlooking the sea.
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Travel by train to Cinque Terre, the picture-postcard villages strung along the coastal cliffs, their multi-coloured houses clinging to the rocks. Enjoy a short walking tour of the westernmost, Monterosso, hemmed with a beach, its old and modern sectors linked by a tunnel; continue by boat along the coast to the cafés and cobbles of quaint Vernazza, and to Riomaggiore, the easternmost village, its photogenic buildings seeming to stand on each other’s shoulders as they climb the cliff from its tight ravine harbour. Return by train to Genoa.
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Transfer to Turin for the return flight to London.
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