Must-see attractions in Northwestern Italy

  • Outside of Castello di Rivoli castle.

    Castello di Rivoli

    Turin

    Some 21km west of Turin, the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art is a giant of modern art in Piedmont. Its ambition and reach, not to mention…

  • Palace and park of Venaria, residence of the Royal House of Savoy, Piedmont (Italy); Shutterstock ID 209445400; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Reggia di Venaria Reale

    Turin

    OK, it may not enjoy the weighty publicity of its French counterpart, but this is one of the largest royal residences in the world, rescued from ruin by a…

  • Egypt, Thebes, Tomb of Kha, The offer and worshiping to Osiris seated on a throne, fragment of the book of the dead, two column papyrus with hieroglyphs and polychrome drawings, eighteenth dynasty

    Museo Egizio

    Turin

    Opened in 1824 and housed in the austere Palazzo dell'Accademia delle Scienze, this Turin institution houses the most important collection of Egyptian…

  • Fort Bard in Italy

    Forte di Bard

    Valle d'Aosta

    A fort has existed here for millennia and the current 1830s Savoy edifice is an imposing one, set high up upon a rocky escarpment at the jaws of the Valle…

  • Sacra di San Michele

    Sacra di San Michele

    Piedmont

    This Gothic-Romanesque abbey, brooding above the road 14km from Turin, has kept sentry atop Monte Pirchiriano (962m) since the 10th century. It housed a…

  • At Genoa, Italy , On april/01/2018, Courtyard of Doria Tursi Palace ; Shutterstock ID 1093671710; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Musei di Strada Nuova

    Genoa

    Skirting the northern edge of the old city limits, pedestrianised Via Garibaldi (formerly Strada Nuova) was planned by Galeazzo Alessi in the 16th century…

  • Grotta di Lord Byron in Portovenere on the Ligurian coast.

    Grotta di Byron

    Porto Venere

    At the end of the quay, a Cinque Terre panorama unfolds from the rocky terraces of a cave formerly known as Grotta Arpaia. Lord Byron once swam across the…

  • TURIN, ITALY - CIRCA JANUARY 2017: Vintage red Ferrari car at Museo Nazionale dell Automobile (meaning National Automobile Museum car museum); Shutterstock ID 564700480; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile

    Turin

    As the historic birthplace of one of the world's leading car manufacturers – the ‘T’ in Fiat stands for Torino – Turin is the obvious place for a car…

  • Palazzo Reale

    Turin

    Statues of the mythical twins Castor and Pollux guard the entrance to this eye-catching palace and, according to local hearsay, also watch over the…

  • Cappella del Barolo, a little colorful church on a summer's day.

    Cappella del Barolo

    Langhe, Roero & Monferrato

    Alba's winemaking-restaurateuring Ceretti family has commissioned a number of site-specific artworks in the region and this never-consecrated chapel is…

  • Roof garden of the Royal Palace (Palazzo Reale) (UNESCO World Heritage List, 2006), Genoa. Italy, 17th century.

    Palazzo Reale

    Genoa

    If you only get the chance to visit one of the Palazzi dei Rolli (group of palaces belonging to the city's most eminent families), make it this one. A…

  • Museo Casa Mollino

    Turin

    Architect-designer-artist Carlo Mollino is perhaps Turin's most intriguing son and a quintessentially 20th-century Torinese. The little-known Museo Casa…

  • Cantine Bosca

    Langhe, Roero & Monferrato

    Some 28km south of Asti, the Cantine Bosca is one of several historic wineries that produce the famed sparkling wine of the area (the DOCG Asti Spumante,…

  • Castello di Racconigi

    Turin

    A sumptuous 17th-century Savoy refit of an 11th-century castle; the 19th-century gardens with lakes, caves and follies are great for rambling. It's…

  • The Basilica of Superga is a church in the vicinity of Turin. It was built from 1717 to 1731  by Filippo Juvarra, at the top of the hill of Superga.

    Basilica di Superga

    Turin

    Vittorio Amedeo II's 1706 promise, to build a basilica to honour the Virgin Mary if Turin was saved from besieging French and Spanish armies, resulted in…

  • Genoa, Italy. Porta Soprana.

    Old City

    Genoa

    The heart of medieval Genoa – bounded by ancient city gates Porta dei Vacca and Porta Soprana, and the streets of Via Cairoli, Via Garibaldi and Via XXV…

  • Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin; Shutterstock ID 156867308; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista

    Turin

    Turin's cathedral was built between 1491 and 1498 on the site of three 14th-century basilicas and, before that, a Roman theatre. Plain interior aside, as…

  • Boccadasse, a small sea district of Genoa, during the golden hour; Shutterstock ID 755753164; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Boccadasse

    Genoa

    When the sun is shining, do as the Genovese do and decamp for a passeggiata (late afternoon stroll) along the oceanside promenade, Corso Italia, which…

  • Green bower in Villa Hanbury Botanic Gardens, near Ventimiglia.

    Giardini Botanici Hanbury

    Ventimiglia

    Established in 1867 by English businessman Sir Thomas Hanbury, the 18-hectare Villa Hanbury estate is planted with 5800 botanical species from five…

  • Ruins of Church of SantEgidio, Bussana Vecchia, Liguria, Italy

    Bussana Vecchia

    San Remo

    Seven kilometres northeast of San Remo lies an intriguing artists' colony. On Ash Wednesday 1887, an earthquake destroyed the village of Bussana Vecchia…

  • Italy, Liguria, La Spezia, Cinque Terre, Manarola, view to square and church

    Piazzale Papa Innocenzo IV

    Manarola

    This small piazza is dominated by a bell tower that was once used as a defensive lookout. Opposite, the Chiesa di San Lorenzo dates from 1338 and houses a…

  • Inside San Pietro church in Portovenere.

    Chiesa di San Pietro

    Porto Venere

    This stunning wind- and wave-lashed church, built in 1198 in Gothic style, stands on the ruins of a 5th-century palaeo-Christian church, with its extant…

  • GENOA, ITALY, MARCH 13, 2016: View of a garden situated between palazzo bianco and palazzo doria tursi palace in Genoa, Italy; Shutterstock ID 483815368; Your name (First / Last): Anna Tyler; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: destination-image-southern-europe

    Palazzo Bianco

    Genoa

    Flemish, Spanish and Italian artists feature at Palazzo Bianco, the second of the triumvirate of palazzi that are together known as the Musei di Strada…

  • Park and garden of Villa Durazzo in Santa Margherita Ligure.

    Villa Durazzo

    Santa Margherita Ligure

    This exquisitely turned-out mansion and gardens, part of a 16th-century castle complex, overlooks the sea. In the lavish Italian gardens, you can take an…

  • The Arch of Augustus of Susa, a monument originally built at the end of the 1st century BC.

    Arco d'Augusto

    Piedmont

    The pristine and impressive triumphal Arch of Augustus, dating to 9BC, sits just outside the centre of town. It marks the transition of power between the…

  • Savona,Italy,22 november 2015.Facade of the cathedral of Savona, built between 1584 and 1605. Inside there are valuable works of art.
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16th Century Style, Facade, Art, Carving - Craft Product, Statue, Sculpture, Religion, Baroque Style, History, Ancient, Old, Italian Culture, Architecture, Liguria, Italy, Europe, Cathedral, Church, Savona, Xvi Century, Italian Cathedral, Baroque Facade

    Cappella Sistina

    Savona

    Dating from the 1480s, Savona's Sistine Chapel (like the one in Rome) was created by Pope Sixtus IV. Though far less famous than its Roman counterpoint,…

  • PORTOVENERE, ITALY - 2009/08/06: Doria Castle at the coastline of the Cinque Terre National Park. (Photo by Olaf Protze/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Castello Doria

    Vernazza

    This castle, the oldest surviving fortification in the Cinque Terre, commands superb views. Dating to around 1000, it's now largely a ruin except for the…

  • Cattedrale di San Lorenzo

    Genoa

    Genoa's zebra-striped Gothic–Romanesque cathedral owes its continued existence to the poor quality of a British WWII bomb that failed to ignite here in…

  • Acquario

    Genoa

    Genoa's much-vaunted aquarium is one of the largest in Europe, with more than 600 species of sea creatures, including sharks. Moored at the end of a…

  • Palazzo Rosso

    Genoa

    Lavishly frescoed rooms in Palazzo Rosso, part of the Musei di Strada Nuova, provide the backdrop for several portraits by Van Dyck of the local Brignole…

  • Palmaria

    Porto Venere

    The largest island of the Italian Riviera is largely undeveloped (it's home to around 50 residents) and lies just a short ferry ride from Porto Venere…

  • Castello Brown

    Portofino

    A flight of stairs signposted 'Salita San Giorgio' leads from the harbour and past the Chiesa di San Giorgio to Portofino's unusual castle, a 10-minute…

  • Sacro Monte di Varallo

    Piedmont

    Situated 66km northwest of Vercelli in northern Piedmont, Varallo guards the Sacro Monte di Varallo, the oldest of Italy's nine Sacri Monti (Sacred…

  • Centro Visito Batterie Silvio Sommazzi

    Camogli

    This free visitor centre provides insight into the military installations scattered in the surrounding hillside. The 202nd Batteria Chiappa guarded the…

  • Castello d'Albertis

    Genoa

    Dating from the late 19th century, this neo-Gothic beauty does indeed resemble a castle, and houses an astonishing array of ethnographic artefacts from…

  • Galata Museo del Mare

    Genoa

    Genoa was rivalled only by Barcelona and Venice as a medieval and Renaissance maritime power, so its 'museum of the sea' is, not surprisingly, one of its…

  • Palazzo San Giorgio

    Genoa

    One of the most famous monuments on Genoa's waterfront is this mural-covered building constructed in 1260. St George is one of Genoa's patron saints, and…

  • Castello di San Giorgio

    La Spezia

    An assortment of local archaeological artefacts from prehistoric to medieval times are displayed at the city's hilltop fortifications. You'll see finely…

  • Palazzo Doria-Tursi

    Genoa

    This palace, one of three that together make up the Musei di Strada Nuova, features a small but absorbing collection of legendary violinist Niccolò…

  • Museo Lavazza

    Turin

    Set in the architecturally striking new headquarters of the famed coffee chain, the Museo Lavazza takes you deep into the world of the heady caffeine…

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