Cycling Italy's Piedmont

Italy's Piedmont region is surrounded on three sides by a great arc of the Alps as they rise out of the Mediterranean Sea and curve north and east through France, Switzerland and Italy to Austria. Within this great curve of mountains the Po River rises, forming a broad, fertile plain that forms Italy's longest river flowing into the Adriatic Sea. It was in the western part of this valley that the Kings of Savoy built castles and fortified cities to protect wine merchants from intrusions by marauding pirates. And it was here that Count Camillo Cavour first proposed the idea of a unified Italian state. The food, the history and the landscape make the Piedmont an ideal destination for cyclists. This cycling tour through the Piedmont region and the Lakes District tour combines the best of Italian and French cuisine and wine with scenic pedaling through rolling hills dotted with vineyards and castles.