Tourism
Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore half an hour from the vineyards
From our winery, in the centre of Gattinara, Lake Orta and the Piedmont shore of Lake Maggiore are half an hour’s drive or a little more: close enough to spend a morning or an afternoon there and be back in time for a tasting. Here we gather the stops we recommend to those who come to visit us, with driving times from the winery.
~35 min
Orta San Giulio
~35 min
Arona
~50 min
Stresa
~1 h
Verbania
Approximate driving times from the winery
Orta San Giulio and the island of San Giulio
Lake Orta is quiet and secluded, and Orta San Giulio, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, is its heart: from the square on the lake, boats take you in a few minutes to the island of San Giulio, the only one on the lake, gathered around its Romanesque basilica and monastery.
Above the village, in the woods, rises the Sacro Monte di Orta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the other Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy: a path between chapels devoted to the life of Saint Francis, with the lake opening up between the trees.
Arona and the San Carlone
Arona is the first town on Lake Maggiore you reach from our winery, about half an hour away: on the hill above it stands the San Carlone, the copper statue of Saint Charles Borromeo, more than twenty-three metres tall on a granite pedestal, completed in 1698 after seventy-four years of work and open to visitors inside.
On the opposite shore, in Lombardy, the Rocca di Angera overlooks the southern end of the lake, and from the Arona lakefront the two face each other.
Stresa and the Borromean Islands
About fifty minutes from the winery, Stresa looks out over the Borromean Gulf and its islands, reached by ferry: Isola Bella, with Palazzo Borromeo and its terraced Italian gardens, designed to give the island the shape of a ship; Isola Madre, the largest, covered in gardens; Isola dei Pescatori, the only one inhabited all year round, with its village of narrow lanes.
Palaces and gardens are open from spring to autumn, and a day on the islands ends well with a tasting in the late afternoon.
Verbania and the gardens of Villa Taranto
An hour’s drive takes you to Verbania, where the botanical gardens of Villa Taranto cover the Castagnola promontory between Pallanza and Intra: more than twenty thousand plant species along seven kilometres of paths, the stop we recommend to those travelling in spring, when everything is in bloom.
The lake and the tasting, on the same day
Each of these stops fits comfortably into half a day, and the other half can be with us: we taste Nebbiolo with you in the morning or late afternoon, every day, in Italian and English, directly with the people who make the wine.
If you want to stay several days, the rooms of Il Cortile, in the same building as the winery, are a base for the lakes, Valsesia and Monte Rosa.
Tastings for visitors coming from the lakes →Between one lake and the next, a tasting
The three tastings, from €20 to €40 per person, are booked online: confirmation arrives immediately by email.
Sleep in the winery courtyard
The rooms of Il Cortile are in the same building as the winery, inside the 1862 distillery: you taste, walk up to your room, and in the morning breakfast is waiting in the Tinaia. Direct rate, no intermediaries.
Frequently asked questions
Orta San Giulio is about 35 minutes by car from our winery, in the centre of Gattinara, to the north; the Sacro Monte di Orta can be reached on foot from the village.
On the Piedmont shore: Arona with the San Carlone, Stresa and the Borromean Islands, reached by ferry, and the gardens of Villa Taranto in Verbania. From our winery, Arona is about half an hour away, Stresa about fifty minutes, Verbania an hour.
Yes: Orta San Giulio and Arona are about half an hour from the winery, and tastings are scheduled every day, in the morning and late afternoon. The morning on the lake and the late afternoon with us, or the other way round.