THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Students who love hiking can set aside time for excursions in the mountains surrounding Torino and take walks around the Torino Hills Park (Parco della Collina Torinese), which consists of two reserved areas (the Vaj Woods Special Natural Reserve and the Superga Hills Park).

The Gran Paradiso National Park, the first national park in Italy, is a very beautiful area full of woods, larch and fir trees with vast Alpine fields, cliffs and glaciers.

The Val Troncea Natural Park is called "The Park of Flowers" due to the exceptional variety of species there which give life to splendid blossoms in the right seasons.

Le Langhe, an area known for great wine and truffles is today an international tourist destination. The term "Langa" refers to the particular hills which characterize a part of the Piemonte. In Medieval times, many castles, churches and abbeys were created in this area. In lates years aristocratic villas, palazzi and farming villages followed. Famous writers such as Pavese and Fenoglio have described these hills in their works and have immortalized them in some of the most beautiful pages of Italian literature.

Le Langhe is a lively and fascinating region due to the colors of both the wild and cultivated vegetation. Famous for wine cultivation, the hills of Le Langhe are known for their Moscato grapevines, grown on steep terraces that produce grapes from which wines such as Asti DOCG and Moscato d' Asti are made. This unique wine is ideal for accompanying another typical product of the area: nuts. These small but delicious dry fruits are, nonetheless, the fundamental ingredient for the famous Ferrero Nutella which is produced here.

In the Langhe of Barolo and Barbaresco the landscape becomes sinuous. The landscape slowly becomes an alternation of hills which are capped by rocks and bell towers. The type of wine grape common to this area is the nebbiolo from which Barolo, Barbaresco and Nebbiolo d’Alba wines are produced. These wines are distinct from one another due to their aromatic complexity, structure and evolutionary potential, but all these wines originate from the same grape.

For those interested in horsebackriding, thanks to the presence of many stables, it is also possible to ride through these beautiful landscapes.