Along a thread of wool...tradition, quality, nature...in Bie

Your Wool Travel Experience guide will await your arrival in Biella in the late morning to begin exploring the city and its medieval village, Piazzo, on foot with an easy stroll.

But before taking a leap into the medieval and Risorgimento past of Biella, let's begin our visit by getting to know a historical brand born in Biella, specializing in technical and sportswear fabrics: the Fila Museum, where you can trace the history of the brand from its inception to today.

At the end of the visit, after a few steps, we will relax while discovering the history and products, always born from the waters of Biella, of the Menabrea Brewery and Botalla Cheeses. Through the common exhibition path of the MEBO Museum, we will explore their history, families, manufacturing methods, and products. In the end, we will be their guests for a lunch naturally accompanied by their beers and cheeses.

After lunch, we leave Biella Piano and, climbing one of the "coste" (as the locals call the cobbled streets ascending the Piazzo hill), we will reach the most historical part of the city, Biella Piazzo.

We will explore, crossing the Torrazza Gate, Piazza Cisterna, Piazzetta San Giacomo, the arcades, and along the streets of the village, ancient buildings and famous Biella families that have shaped the history of the city and Italy during the Risorgimento.

We will learn about the history of one of these families, the La Marmora family, and visit their palace to understand their influence on Italian Risorgimento history.

The afternoon will conclude with dinner in one of the typical restaurants in the village and a subsequent descent to retrieve your vehicles with the funicular that has connected the two parts of Biella since 1886. Return to the hotel and overnight stay.

After breakfast, we will embark on a fascinating journey to discover the excellence of Biella in the world: wool and cashmere yarns and fabrics.

We will head to a historic woolen mill in Pollone, at the foot of the Biella hills, the Lanificio Piacenza. As a member of an exclusive club comprising bicentennial family-owned companies, we will have the exclusive opportunity to visit the production departments and shop at the company store.

But we will also get to know the founder's gift to his employees and the Biella area: the Burcina Park. Overlooking the woolen mill, this park, born from Felice Piacenza's passion for botany, includes plant varieties and flowers from around the world that reach their peak in May with the blooming of rhododendrons.

We will then explore it and have the opportunity to stop and have lunch in one of its trattorias or in one of the nearby restaurants.

We return to the city for a mandatory shopping stop at one of Biella's most famous brands, the outlet of Lanificio Cerruti 1881.

Still on foot, with an easy stroll, we will visit another woolen mill, now transformed into a cultural excellence not only in Italy: the City of Art, Pistoletto Foundation. Born from the work of Michelangelo Pistoletto, the former Trombetta woolen mill has turned into a cultural workshop where art, territory, and human activities such as spinning and weaving have come together. This concept is expressed in the famous symbol, the Third Paradise, which you will discover after visiting the Foundation.

At the end of this day of exploration, you can enjoy the rest of the evening by returning to the hotel (dinner not included) or by having dinner in the city, at one of the restaurants your guide will be happy to recommend. Overnight stay.

Today, we will continue our exploration of the textile past and future of Biella.

First, a plunge into the past: transfer from your hotel to reach the Mosso Valley. We will cross the valley among factories and textile companies to reach Pray and visit the Wheel Factory, a museum of textile industry in the historic Zignone woolen mill. Inside this magnificent example of industrial archaeology, you can relive the working days of an ancient woolen mill, the various production phases, and admire the only example in Italy of an intact system of energy creation and transmission using water from the nearby Ponzone stream.

Leaving the past behind, we move to the other Biella valley rich in textile tradition, the Sessera Valley, to discover the history and legacy of the founder of one of the most well-known fashion textile brands, Ermenegildo Zegna. The Zegna House Museum tells the story of the family and the brand; you will touch different types of raw materials and discover the realization of a dream of its founder that later became a reality, the Oasis Zegna.

After leaving Trivero and the Zegna Center (with schools, sports facilities, and a hospital dedicated and used by the woolen mill workers for generations), we will use the Panoramic Road to reach the Oasis, a natural park immersed in nature with a ski resort, walking and cycling paths, the possibility of both summer and winter sports activities, hotels, restaurants, agritourism, and typical products. And it is in one of the Oasis restaurants that we will have lunch before relaxing with a peaceful walk in the nearby woods before continuing our journey. We leave the mountainous landscape to enter another valley in the region, the Cervo Valley!

Before descending to Biella, however, we will learn about the history of mystery, superstition, magic, and esotericism of another illustrious figure from Biella and the homonymous and more mysterious village in Italy: Rosazza. We will walk through a place with enchanted architecture full of mystery and symbolism before returning to the city.

The choice is yours whether to return to the hotel for dinner (not included) or dine in Biella before a well-deserved rest.

Before leaving the Biella area, you will discover other local places and products.

Going back to the Middle Ages, the Ricetto di Candelo, one of the best-preserved medieval villages in the beautiful country, will welcome you for a dive into history. We will walk through its "rue," the cobbled streets between its two-story buildings that housed the village inhabitants and their food supplies in times of danger.

After this journey back in time, we will embark on another journey, this time between continents, to reach and walk through the Baragge Natural Reserve. Called the "Biellese Savanna" for the environment and vegetation reminiscent of Africa, it is the Biellese Alps and not Kilimanjaro that serve as a backdrop to this plateau, made up of vast meadows and heaths, interspersed with sporadic trees and wooded valleys.

This pleasant walk will conclude with a visit and tasting of wines from a local producer.

For lunch, before getting back into your cars and starting the return journey, you can refresh yourselves at one of the restaurants inside the Ricetto. Your guide will be happy to reserve a table for you.

End of the package.