The UNESCO Grand Tour a choice of slow tourism to discover the historic-artistic and culinary excellence of the territory.
The itinerary, a ring of 660 km divided into 4 stages, develops over secondary and gravel roads and covers the entire region touching 25 UNESCO sites of Piedmont and intercepting historical paths, castles and villas, ancient, modern and contemporary architectural assets, literary, agrarian and industrial landscapes and sites of diffused contemporary art. 

The ideal centre is the City of Turin, point of departure by bicycle or from where to reach different locations along the route: Avigliana, Venaria, Rivarolo Canavese, Ivrea, Biella, Carpignano Sesia, Santhià, Vercelli, Casale Monferrato, Asti, Alba, Bra, Racconigi, Savigliano, Pinerolo. Some deviations towards significant locations allow to touch the cities of Verbania, Novara, Alessandria and Cuneo.

The Ring is easily reached by train, car and is connected with the airports of Turin Caselle and Milan Malpensa.

The “Grand Tour by bike among the UNESCO sites of Piedmont ” is a project of territorial enhancement by VisitPiemonte - Regional Marketing and Promotion by mandate of the Piedmont Regional Authority and Unioncamere Piemonte,devised and elaborated by Andrea Rolando - E-Scapes Observatory, Polytechnic of Milan.

Alternative routes to discover sites and landscapes

The general map of the ring of the UNESCO Grand Tour shows trails marked by a dotted line next to the "official" routes of the various Arches: they are suggestions of supplementary or alternative routes which allow to discover "minor" interesting sites and art towns which connect Turin with Avigliana (point of departure of Arch 1) or with Venaria home to the Savoy Residence UNESCO heritage site, or which allow to reach the closest railway station along the Arches. 

In the first Arch, having reached Rivara (To) it is possible to divert by passing through the countryside of Oglianico towards Rivarolo, and decide whether to use the railway connection for Turin (53 minutes for Turin Porta Susa) or travel the countryside between Salassa and Pertusio to enjoy the glimpses of the Sacred Mountain of Belmonte, to then reach Valperga and continue on the main ring.

In Arch2, in Valsesia, 2.5 km from Bocchetta della Boscarola, with 3 km and 200 m of elevation gain it is possible to deviate for Alpe di Mera, beautiful tourist location of the Pennine Alps, between 1500 and 1700 m above sea level, with view of the magnificent Monte Rosa. From here, continue quickly downhill with numerous bends, touching the oratory of San Bernardo as far as Scopello, along the River Sesia. Along the valley passing by Scopa, Balmuccia and the suspended bridge of Balangera, you reach Varallo with its Sacred Mountain, from where you exit passing by the magnificent frescoed chapel of Madonna di Loreto (from Varallo it is also possible to descend as far as Santhià passing by the area of the Geoparco Sesia Valgrande). From this point you re-join the main ring arriving at Verbania: as alternative to the Passo della Colma (46 km, 900 m of elevation gain and 650 elevation drop) in Borgosesia it is possible to connect to Verbania crossing Ponte di Agnona and Santa Maria Montrigone which touches Lake Orta and the UNESCO site of the Sacred Mountain.

Further on, from the Abbey of San Nazzaro Sesia it is possible to connect with Novara, passing by Casalbeltrame and along the gravel banks of Canale Cavour (25 km) across the rural landscapes described in the books by Sebastiano Vassalli. Diverting towards Vercelli you find the railway connection for Milan, Turin and Pavia. In Casale Monferrato, crossing the centre you find the railway connection for Alessandria and Turin  with change in Chivasso and continuing you can reach Alessandria passing along the Po and the historic centre of Valenza (45 km, 320 m of elevation gain, 300 elevation drop).

In arch 3, connection with the railway for Turin, Alessandria and Genoa is possible by entering across Corso Alfieri in the historic centre of Asti. Same for Alba, where passing through Piazza Duomo and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II you reach the station with the railway connection for Bra and Turin; at Pollenzo the track continues into the fields as far as Bra (railway connection for Turin and Alba), the beautiful Cherasco with view on the mountains with the Alpine Range from Monviso to Monte Rosa and then Racconigi (railway connection for Turin and Savona). From Bra, the supplementary routes are indicated which stretch into the areas of Cuneo as far as Fossano, Cuneo, Mondovì and Garessio.

Arch 4 proposes the diversion for Pinerolo (railway connection with Turin and cycling connection for Turin), passing through Carmagnola and Carignano, then for the park and the Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi di 43 km); then at Sangano possible cycling connection with Turin along the Sangone, passing by Stupinigi of 31 km.

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