Northwest Italy consists of four of Italy's regions: Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy and Valle d'Aosta. To the east lies Northeast Italy, to the north is Switzerland and to the west France. The Italian Lake District is mostly in Northwest Italy.

Regions

Aosta Valley a small region in the Alps, that has the highest mountains in Europe

Liguria the coastal region

Lombardy the eastern part of Northwest Italy.

Piedmont the western region, containing most of Italy's border with France

Cities

• 1 Aosta – near ski resorts and the Gran Paradiso National Park, it has an alpine botanical garden, and vestiges of the Roman past
• 2 Bergamo – a fairytale pastel-coloured city perched atop a hillside, and the gate to Bergamo Alps
• 3 Brescia – a major industrial powerhouse since the Ancient Roman times, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• 4 Como – in the southern part of Lake Como, it is known for the Gothic cathedral, the panoramic funicular and the pedestrian path along the lake. Its museums illustrate the history of its silk industry, and the work of the physicist Alessandro Volta. To the north are the gardens overlooking the lake of Villa Olmo and other elegant villas.
• 5 Genoa – a port city known for its important role in maritime trade over many centuries; its cathedral is Romanesque style with a black and white striped facade and frescoed interiors; its narrow streets lead to monumental squares
• 6 La Spezia – a port city with a 19th-century maritime arsenala naval technical museum, a castle that houses an archaeological museum with finds from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages, and a civic museum with paintings, bronze sculptures and illuminated miniatures in a former convent
• 7 Mantua (Italian: Mantova) – the Ducal Palace has a cycle of frescoes by Mantegna that no art lover should miss; a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• 8 Milan (Italian: Milano) – shares with Paris the title of fashion capital of the world, and is Italy's second city and the main Italian economic centre; it offers intimate ancient churches, sumptuous palaces, silent medieval corners, art galleries, and the astonishing Duomo
• 9 Turin (Italian: Torino) – old-world aristocratic ambiance, grand boulevards and palaces, arcade streets, and cultural and artistic heritage

Other destinations

• 1 Cinque Terre – one of the most evocative Italian coastal areas, for its naturally rough and rugged hilly context, softened by the construction of terraces for cultivation, which falls towards the sea with steep slopes; a World Heritage Site
• 2 Lake Como – its scenic beauty makes it popular with celebrities, billionaires and other visitors for its combination of fresh air, water, mountains and good weather
• 3 Lake Maggiore – a natural environment of enchanting beauty, views and inlets that look like pictures, coastal villages of elegant simplicity and great charm
• 4 Lake Garda – bathing and water sports activities; excursions on the reliefs that surround the lake basin; entertainment for young people in the countless clubs and amusement parks that are near it on the Venetian shore

Understand

North-western Italy, also known more simply as North-West, is that part of the Italian territory that includes the regions of Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta.

Geographical notes

It borders to the west with France through the western Alps, to the north with Switzerland through the central Alps, to the east with the regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna belonging to north-eastern Italy and to the south with the Ligurian Sea and the extreme offshoot of Tuscany in central Italy. North-western Italy encompasses a large part of the Po Valley and is crossed by the River Po, the longest in Italy.

Background

In historical terms of the last few centuries the North-West is mainly identified in the domains of the House of Savoy and therefore the continental part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which included, in addition to Piedmont, the Aosta Valley and Liguria. Lombardy, although culturally linked also to Piedmont and Liguria, has historically developed greater political and economic ties with the Veneto (Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia) and therefore with north-eastern Italy.

See

• The Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy – a UNESCO World Heritage site consisting of nine groups of holy mountains featuring chapels and other Christian religious sites.

Eat

There are many places where you can taste many specialties of Northern Italy such as Courmayeur (where you can taste fontina, a typical Aosta Valley dish, which can also be tasted in other tourist cities such as Aosta and Cogne), Livigno (where you can taste pizzoccheri , typical Valtellinese dish, which can also be tasted in other tourist cities such as Bormio and Chiavenna, but also the polenta taragna), Alba (where you can taste the black and white truffle, but also in other tourist cities such as Barolo and Barbaresco, famous for fine wines), Milan (where you can taste the Milanese risotto, obviously with its many variations and ossobuco, even in luxury restaurants).

You can also enjoy good fish meals in restaurants in cities such as Sanremo, Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo and Portofino.

In all regions there are typical products, for example Lombardy is famous for Bitto, Taleggio DOP, Bresaola della Valtellina, Salame di Varzi, famous in the Oltrepò Pavese, apples from Valtellina and onions from Breme. Of course there are many other less known products but always in the IGP, DOP, IGT classifications.

Drink

Aosta Valley : Wine production in the Aosta Valley is small, but highly qualified. The vines vary according to the areas in which they are grown.

The products made in this region are considered mountain wines and are collected under the regional denomination DOC Valle d’Aosta - Vallée d’Aoste DOC, which includes 15 types of grape and 7 area sub-denominations:

Arnad-Montjovet

Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle

Chambave

Donnas

Enfer d'Arvier

Nus

Turrets

Among the most sought-after white wines, we find Blancs de La Salle et Morgex produced from Prié Blanc grapes, a vine grown at high altitudes, up to 1200 m. Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, dry Moscati are also grown on the regional territory.

Among the red wines from Valle d'Aosta, worthy of note are the wines of Enfer d'Arvier and the sub-area of ​​Torrette, made with the Petit Rouge grape. Also interesting are the wines based on Cornalin, a native vine vinified alone or blended with Petit Rouge.

The Donnas DOC is instead a wine produced with 85% Nebbiolo grapes.

For sure, one of the most typical liqueurs of the Aosta Valley is genepì. It is a liqueur of very ancient origin, produced through the prolonged infusion of the floral stems of the black genepì.

Also worth tasting is the Ratafià, made with wild cherries, brandy and lemon zest.

The Aosta Valley also boasts a tradition in the production of grappa and distillates of alpine herbs.

Another local production is the famous Aosta Valley coffee. It is a preparation made with the "cup of friendship", a wooden container with a lid and various spouts, which is filled with hot coffee, to which lemon peel and grappa are added. A particular and tasty coffee, suitable to close the meals of the typical Aosta Valley cuisine.

Go next

• Northeast Italy