Touring - Piemonte Feel

Water, in all of its forms, is the queen of Piemonte. In this region, through the rivers, streams, and creeks, the longest river in Italy, the Po, is born. In Val Formazza, the Toce, with a 143 meter jump, gives life to the second highest waterfall in Europe. Enchanting are the lakes, among which, Lago Maggiore heads the list; surprising are the glaciers that find room among the summits of Monte Rosa.

• Water sports

In the past, going on vacation was a privilege reserved for the few lucky members of the aristocracy. And for these noble travellers, who came down through the Sempione pass into Italy, one of the priorities was to visit the lakes in Piedmont. Even today this tourist attraction, the lake district, which includes Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta and Lake Mergozzo is an excellent starting point to explore Piedmont and its lakes and rivers. Visit the Borromeo islands on Lake Maggiore; marvel at the splendid Italian gardens on Isola Bella and Isola Madre; or enjoy the romantic atmosphere of Isola dei Pescatori. The Toce river flows placidly into the lake, but that same river, nearer its source in the Val Formazza, forms the second highest waterfall in Europe, cascading 143 metres down a sheer rock face. It then resumes its tranquil journey down the valley towards the lake, through one of the largest wilderness areas in Italy, in the Val Grande National Park.

Piedmont has many high mountain lakes, 300 in the Cuneo province alone, and a hundred more scattered through the Alps. The source of the river Po is Pian del Re, on the slopes of Monviso. This river, so important to Italian history and agriculture, flows through Piedmont for 235 kilometres, touching four provinces. In 1990 the Parco del Po park authority was created, to manage over 25,000 hectares of land along the banks of the river. 6,000 hectares of this land is a protected environment consisting of nature reserves with certain areas made available to the public for a variety of activities: birdwatching, walking or cycling. But no tour of the lakes and rivers of Piedmont would be complete without a close encounter with a glacier. In Valsesia, one of the very few glacier study trails in Italy has been created, passing among the Monte Rosa glaciers. The trail allows walkers to learn about the history and evolution of these glaciers by studying the strange ice sculptures formed over millennia by the movement of these frozen rivers: the curious “cauldrons of the river Sesia” and the “Giants’ Pots” are two typical examples.