On the brightest days, the Alpine arch frames the soft ups and downs of the gentle and orderly hills of the vineyards up to those rugged and submerged by the woods. Milan is sixty kilometers away but it seems to belong to another planet.

By Oltrepò Pavese each curve opens up new scenarios and the stops are increasingly captivating: the medieval abbey with the shop of essences and herbal teas; the small Romanesque church adjacent to an important geosite that is worth a walk; the austere Malaspina manor is frequented by Dante, where you can climb his tower to see the wooded carpets around the small village below and see further away the immense plain; or the elegant castle for a tasting of organic wines produced by the owner family; the small medieval villages that host markets and festivals where to buy the products of the surrounding farms; stop for a lunch in a real trattoria where the kitchen draws on the typical tradition based on homemade ravioli, braised meats and captivating desserts, all offered with honest prices.

You cannot give up a stop in one of the many farms hidden in the woods where precious cheeses, cold cuts are produced and strictly organic fruits and vegetables are grown. Ancient mills on the water organize visits and purchases of stone-ground flours. The wineries of Valle Versa produce high quality wines if expertly chosen and tasted in characteristic environments. In this corner of Lombardy, history alternates with art and gastronomy, discovering an Italian territory still little known and, for this reason, remained original and offered with spontaneity and genuineness but, not by less, at fair prices that can't be found elsewhere.

In the most beautiful seasons it offers the best of its thousand realities without being influenced by retouched rates, the trattorias and taverns have costs ranging from 20 to 35€ per person, bed & breakfast amp; amp; breakfast offer rooms with bathroom and breakfast from 40 to 60€ per person and are all particularly cared for, each to represent and enhance the territory in which they are immersed: stone houses or of countryside, precious villas or dwellings in villages, farms and places of meditation with Reiki courses. There are also organized or spontaneous spas in the woods where, with a short walk, you can immerse yourself in a source of salt-bromo-iodic waters. Oltrepò Pavese is still little known and, precisely for this reason, it is worth discovering it