Sacro Monte di Varallo from Turin

The Sacro Monte di Varallo crowns a wooded hill above the town of Varallo Sesia in the Valsesia, about 120 km northeast of Turin in Vercelli Province. By car it is reached in around 2-2.5 hours via the A4 and A26 motorways and the SS299 up the valley; a historic funicular then climbs from the town to the sanctuary, sparing visitors the steep walk. Begun in 1491 by the Franciscan friar Bernardino Caimi, who wished to recreate the holy places of Jerusalem for those unable to make the pilgrimage, it is the oldest and most ambitious of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The complex is astonishing in scale: forty-five chapels arranged as a 'New Jerusalem' wind across the hilltop, each a tableau combining vivid frescoes with more than 800 life-size painted terracotta statues that stage scenes from the life, Passion, and death of Christ with theatrical realism. The artistic high point is the work of the Renaissance master Gaudenzio Ferrari, whose chapels - especially the Crucifixion and the Adoration of the Magi - fuse sculpture and painting into immersive sacred theatre. At the summit stands the Basilica dell'Assunta, while the terraces open to sweeping views over Varallo and the surrounding Alpine valleys. A sensible one-day arc is to ride the funicular up in the morning, walk the full chapel circuit over two to three hours, pause at the basilica and the panoramic café, then descend to explore Varallo's old town and the Pinacoteca, which holds more Gaudenzio works. The trip pairs well with the wider Valsesia, a green Alpine valley running up toward Alagna Valsesia and the foot of Monte Rosa, with its Walser villages and hiking. Food in the valley is hearty mountain fare - polenta, miaccia (a thin local crepe), toma cheese, and game. The sanctuary is open year-round but is best enjoyed from May to October, when the weather is mild, the woods green, and the funicular and facilities fully running; winter can bring snow and reduced services to the hilltop.