Rebel Valleys
900 years of wine, food and the fight for liberty in Piemonte's western Alps.
A six-night small group accompanied trip for 6+ guests.
900 years of wine, food and the fight for liberty in Piemonte's western Alps.
A six-night small group accompanied trip for 6+ guests.
Discover the wine, cuisine and rebellious history of Piemonte’s undiscovered western Alps.
These wild, densely wooded valleys and high peaks symbolise the safety and freedom for which the partisans of world war two and the protestants of Europe’s medieval reformation fought. The valleys were also the birthplace of Lydia Poët, Italy’s first female lawyer.
This trip, well off the usual tourist trails, takes in Pinerolo, Torre Pellice, Cuneo, Saluzzo and the surrounding valleys.
📸 M. Bruckmanns.
This five-night, accompanied trip is for private groups of 6+ guests. Book for travel any time of year (the high locations are inaccessible in winter months so an alternative itinerary will be provided). We are delighted to welcome groups of fewer than 6 by way of a Small Group Supplement.
We meet at Pinerolo rail station on the first morning. Pinerolo is a 40-minute rail journey from Turin Porta Susa station and services, which cost €5, depart hourly. Alternatively, airport and city centre transfers can be organised with MTW – contact us for a quote. We return to central Turin or Turin airport, according to your requirements.
Contact us to help with your accommodation options in Turin.
Rebel Valleys costs €1.845 per person all-inclusive, based on two sharing. There is a €300 single occupancy supplement.
Some rare wines of the Pinerolese DOC and Colline Saluzzesi DOC appellazioni. We also select other wines of Piemonte – including Barolo and Barbaresco – at restaurants along the way. If you are keen to try some finer wines, that can easily be arranged.
All walking is entirely optional. Conditions permitting, we enjoy two mountain hikes of medium+ difficulty and a more gentle walk along a riverside trail.
Five nights of b&b accommodation in charming, characteristic accommodation; all meals, including wine, one of which is a Cinzia Long picnic with cheese presentation and tasting; three wine tastings, including a tutored tasting with James MacNay, IWA; outbound Turin airport or Turin city transfer.
Flights, insurance, incidental expenses, hotels outside the dates of the trip, inbound airport transfer.
For UK guests, Cuculo will fulfill your wine orders, with nationwide home delivery. For non-UK customers, MTW will reach out to the relevant distributor(s) in your territory.
If you would like to stay in the mountains after your trip, then consider exploring the Valle d’Aosta with our self-guided walks The Five Days of the Matterhorn or Heart of the Italian Alps. Otherwise, discover the central Piemonte wine regions around Barolo and Barberesco with our trio of self-guided walks.
Contact us to book, or for more information.
Meet at Pinerolo station, where an hourly service out of Turin terminates (40m, €5). Or contact us for a quote for airport or city centre transfers.
Explore the city with its pretty historic centre, military history and magnificent views. James introduces the local wine scene with a pre-lunch tutored tasting.
After lunch, a 20-minute drive brings us to Torre Pellice, where we check in to our first hotel. A free afternoon gives us the chance to explore the town, before dinner in the hotel restaurant. This restaurant is famous throughout the region, and it has been known to catch sight there of visiting footballers from the local Serie A club, Juventus.
We drive 30 minutes up into the mountains, where walkers can enjoy a 1.5-hour hike to a local viewpoint. This walk is medium+ difficulty and requires proper footwear and walking poles. Non-walkers can choose an easy circular stroll to a viewing platform, or simply enjoy the bar/café with its open spaces and views.
Lunch is in a traditional agriturismo on the mountain.
In the afternoon we explore the peace and extraordinary depth of history in the town’s surrounding valleys, visiting important locations in the history of the medieval reformation and the partisan movement.
Dinner is in an informal local restaurant back in Torre Pellice.
Transfer to Saluzzo, via a key winery in the Pinerolese DOC for a tasting and lunch.
In the afternoon we visit a thirteenth-century Cistercian abbey at the foot of the mountains, from where walkers can take a gentle 11km riverside walk to the town of Saluzzo.
Non-walkers transfer to check in and explore the lovely hotel, an old Piemontese cascina farmhouse, before we all head into town for dinner at one of our favourite local restaurants.
Transfer to a high plain, where we visit the source of the mighty River Po, Italy’s longest and most important river.
In this majestic environment, called the Pian del Re, the Plain of the King, Cinzia provides one of her legendary picnics, together with a cheese tasting.
Walkers have the option to take a challenging and technical circular walk to a glacial lake.
Back to the hotel in time to freshen up for another fine dinner in a different local restaurant.
A relaxed day allows us the chance to visit a winery in the undiscovered Colline Salluzesi appellation, where a range of rare grapes and wine styles awaits us.
Time afterwards to explore properly the handsome city of Saluzzo, with its bars, restaurants, shops and delightful porticoes, before dinner close by.
We check out of our lovely hotel and turn south, to visit the city of Cuneo, famous for its fashion, food and wine.
Lunch in the town, before we point to Turin and our final destination. We drop you off in the city centre at our usual 4* hotel which is 100m from the Porta Nuova station, or at the airport, according to your requirement.
