The experience
The Vigezzo Valley is famous for its colors, portrayed by several painters who made their fortune thanks to the Rossetti-Valentini school. Many painters have started from here, but also many chimney sweeps, who have made it famous, with its Chimney Sweep Museum… the black of the soot, the dull noises created by the tools and the migration in search of fortune. But this land also tells us about nature, mountains and lakes, sacred mountains and world-famous companies. These are the themes of an exciting visit.
Shortly
Tour
Santa Maria Maggiore
Travel on the Vigezzina Centovalli railway train, departing from Domodossola and arriving in Santa Maria Maggiore (45 minutes).
The Vigezzina-Centovalli railway line, today one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Ossola Valley, which transports hundreds of thousands of passengers every year, was born in the early twentieth century thanks to Italian-Swiss initiatives. The official inauguration of the line took place on November 25, 1923.
Over the decades, the Vigezzina-Centovalli Railway has continued to innovate, increasing its vocation as a tourist railway.
The entire route is 52 kilometers long dotted with 83 bridges and 31 tunnels and immersed in the most authentic nature, offering passengers a slow and exciting journey between Valle Vigezzo and Centovalli, between Italy and Switzerland.
Walk in Santa Maria Maggiore with the guide who will tell you why the valley is known as the “valley of the painters” and visit the curious Chimney Sweep Museum.
The profession of chimney sweep had its origins in the fourteenth century and was practiced until the middle of the last century. The young rusca (chimney sweeps), hired when they were still thin and managed to squeeze into the chimneys to clean them, spent the cold winters away from their families, always dirty with soot.
Address: Santa Maria Maggiore, VB, Italy
In the afternoon, free time or free time to search for the documents of the ancestors in the archives and visit to the places of memory for the Italian descendants with origins in the area.
Return to Domodossola in the evening.
From Orta San Giulio to Sacro Monte
From Orta San Giulio to Sacro Monte
Transfer to Lake Orta, starting from Piazza Motta in Orta San Giulio, you climb towards the Sacro Monte, with a slow and measured pace, breathing in the sacredness of the place. In about 15-20 minutes, you will reach the top, where 12 chapels built between 1550 and 1600 await you. They depict the life of St. Francis.
From here you can enjoy the enchanting view of the island where St. Julius drove out dragons and built the hundredth church.
Visit to the Island of San Giulio and lunch on your own.
The Lake and the Sanctuary
In the afternoon, itinerary for the circumnavigation of the lake. We suggest you stop at the enchanting village of Pella for the ascent to the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, with its breathtaking view of the entire lake and the island of San Giulio. Arrival in Omegna.
Free evening.
Address: Omegna, VB, Italy
Discovering the great brands of household goods
Omegna
From the enchanted world of Alessi to the Moka Bialetti: a walk to discover industrial archaeology.
Starting from the Town Hall of Omegna, where you will be welcomed by an institutional representative of the city, we will take a walk of about 2 hours to discover the great brands that make Omegna famous.
You will learn about the history of Alessi, Lagostina, Bialetti and you will also discover the meaning of the “Monument to the Family” built by the entrepreneur Giuseppe Frua in the 1930s.
In the afternoon we will create a gadget with our own hands and the help of 4.0 technologies at the city’s Fab Lab.
Free time or to devote to the search for the documents and places of the ancestors.
Lake maggiore
Stresa
Transfer to Stresa on Lake Maggiore and embarkation for the tour of the Borromean Islands: Isola Bella, with the summer residence of Count Vitaliano VI and its Renaissance garden; Isola Madre, with its luxuriant English garden, a scenic eight-hectare park and the famous Palazzo Borromeo, dating back to the sixteenth century; the Isola dei Pescatori, also known as Isola Superiore, the only one of the archipelago to still be inhabited, where you can also indulge in a lunch of excellent fish.
Address: Stresa, VB, Italy
Verbania
Transfer to Verbania and visit to the botanical gardens of Villa Taranto, open from 15 March 2024 to 3 November 2024. The current appearance of the garden of Villa Taranto is not a spontaneous fruit, but the result, shaped over time by a laborious elaboration undertaken by the Scottish Captain Neil Boyd Mc Eacharn in 1931.
Or walk with a nature guide to Lake Mergozzo.
Address: Verbania Pallanza, VB, Italy
Let us guide you on your journey to the Roots
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