Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi and Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of t starting at Beinasco

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi

   On the southern edge of Turin, at the end of a long straight avenue lined with trees, a bronze stag stands on the dome of a palace that looks like a star dropped on the plain. The Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi was built from 1729 by the architect Filippo Juvarra for King Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy as a hunting lodge, though the word lodge hardly does justice to its grand halls, frescoed ceilings and sprawling wings. It is part of the World Heritage Site of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed in 1997.

   Read the complete Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi is where the day begins. Next is Hills of Barbaresco.

2. 2. Hills of Barbaresco

   Barbaresco is a hill, a village, a tower and a wine, and in the Langhe those things are hard to separate. The village sits on a ridge above the Tanaro river a few kilometres northeast of Alba, its medieval brick tower standing over rows of vines that roll off in every direction like a green sea frozen mid-swell. Together with the neighbouring Barolo country and the Roero and Monferrato, these hills form the vineyard landscape of Piedmont listed by UNESCO in 2014.

   Read the complete Hills of Barbaresco write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hills of Barbaresco comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of t.

3. 3. Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of t

   Genoa never tried to be pretty in the way Florence or Venice did. It tried to be rich, and succeeded, and the Strade Nuove, the new streets laid out in the sixteenth century, are the proof. The city's banking families, who financed the Spanish crown for decades, built palaces along Via Garibaldi, Via Balbi and Via Cairoli, and they did it on a steep, crowded slope where there was no room for gardens, so the grandeur is stacked into courtyards, loggias and monumental staircases. The palaces were registered in the Rolli, official lists that told the republic which houses should host visiting kings and cardinals, a bit like a medieval hotel guide for diplomats. UNESCO listed the system in 2006.

   Read the complete Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of t write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 225 km into the recorded legs you reach Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of t. Next is back through Hills of Barbaresco.

4. 4. back through Hills of Barbaresco

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hills of Barbaresco write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Hills of Barbaresco, late in the day. Next is Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.

5. 5. Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi. That is the ride.