Category: Piedmont destinations and itineraries

A day discovering the Sacra di San Michele, one hour and twenty minutes from the Langhe and twenty minutes from Turin! I devote the summer months to broadening my horizons, and I am convinced that you do not need to travel far from home to do so. People always say that “locals” know their area best, but I would like to challenge that idea: is it really true? A local resident will certainly be able to recommend a good restaurant and perhaps offer useful advice on avoiding traffic, but can we be sure they have visited and explored all the unmissable places in their own area? I do not think so! Now that I am forty-something, I finally decided to visit the absolute wonder that is the Sacra di San Michele, in the province of Turin, at the entrance to the Susa Valley. I can never thank my work enough, because it encourages—perhaps even forces—me to explore places before suggesting new destinations. Otherwise, I would have postponed far too many extraordinary visits. About local guides My work has also taught me that everything is better with a guide: it truly becomes a completely different experience. So I asked Valentina, a knowledgeable and friendly guide who lives at the foot of the Sacra, to show me around. The day was spectacular, but the Sacra di San Michele is just as fascinating when it is shrouded in mist or covered in snow. I already want to return in winter, perhaps for Christmas Mass in the abbey. I can only imagine the incredible atmosphere up there. There are many ways to reach the Sacra di San Michele, including on foot by following in the pilgrims’ footsteps. We chose to walk only the final stretch, yet even that gives a sense of the immense

This blog talks a great deal about the Langhe and Piedmont—but sometimes it also tells you about me, Claudia, the founder of SlowDays. I like to describe myself as a local travel consultant and a travel artisan. Since the end of the year is traditionally a time for taking stock, I feel the need to define the boundaries of what I do. In our fast-paced world, constant input comes at us from every direction and can easily distract us. It is sometimes difficult to explain what we do and communicate our role and profession in the right way. We live in the age of new kinds of work: jobs that can no longer be summed up in a single word and are reinvented day by day. Sometimes answering “What do you do?” is fun and makes you feel part of an evolving world. At other times, doubts arise: “Am I offering something that people genuinely need?” and “How can I explain my work fully, so that nobody expects something I cannot provide?” The doubts arise because the world of tourism, which I entered about three years ago, is enormous and boundless. There are countless ways to offer travel, so you start thinking that what you do is not enough and that you could—or should—offer more, and do it differently. Perhaps you should standardise the service to reach more customers. Or expand into other regions, inevitably knowing them less thoroughly. Some days, what you have “created” and “designed” seems like very little. After all, finding a room online and booking a restaurant or a winery tasting is not particularly difficult: anyone can do it from their sofa. And the truth is that all of this is absolutely correct! Local consultant: then “certain customers” come along and say things such as, “Without

Undecided about holidays? Come to Monferrato! Relax, good food, blue skies and a lot, but a lot... green! Have you ever thought of organizing a holiday, an out-of-town trip or a weekend immersed in the beautiful territories of Monferrato? No? So, hold fast, because today I am going to talk about that! We go for a walk through the rolling hills of Monferrato, always in a slow way and observing with plenty of detail everything that lives around us. WHERE THE "MONFERRATO" IS LOCATED The Monferrato is divided into 4 parts: The Casalese Monferrato, which includes the area of Casale Monferrato and Valenza         Low Monferrato of Asti, which includes the area from Villanova d'Asti to Moncalvo         High Asti Monferrato, which includes the area of Canelli, Nizza Monferrato, and Costigliole d'Asti         High Monferrato of Acqui Terme, Ovada, and Gavi Surely in a weekend, it is impossible to visit everything, but all these territories have one thing in common! Here they are: the landscape, which you can see everywhere, offers a variety of views, including the typical vineyards, from which originate the fine wines of Piedmont, such as Moscato d'Asti, Barbera d'Asti and Monferrato or Malvasia di Casorzo, the romantic hilly expanses, which are the protagonists of the whole panorama, the shady forests, but especially the ancient villages and castles that have survived and preserved to this day! WHAT DO I RECOMMEND YOU NOT TO MISS? Asti. The capital of Monferrato is Asti, which boasts Roman origins (Hasta was the name given to it by the ancient Romans), as evidenced by the ancient walls still visible in many parts of the city. The city was also an important center of trade and banking, just in the Middle Ages, in fact, was enriched with many