Reset selection

Tingly round tour: The Franciacorta wine route

Gentle hills, small villages, defiant castles, embedded in the lush green of centuries-old parks or vineyards planted more than 2000 years ago: the region of Franciacorta in Lombardy is one of the most beautiful and varied in Italy.
The best way to explore the area is on the 80 kilometre long wine route. From Sarnico on Lago d`Iseo via Paderno to the old Roman city of Brescia, the route runs through a fantastic landscape - past vineyards and wine growers, osterias and sparkling wine cellars, abbeys and noble villas.

Rice field in the Albufera near Valencia

To the birthplace of paella: The rice route through the Albufera

The paella, the most famous dish in Spanish cuisine, originated as a simple meal of the field workers in the huertas, the gardens at the gates of Valencia. Part of the huge rice fields now form the Albufera Natural Park - a 20,000 hectare Mediterranean ecosystem of forest, dune beaches and a lake.
It is home to 250 bird species. And in winter it is a resting and nesting place for thousands of flamingos, herons and cormorants, which can be observed during a four-hour bike ride from Valencia to El Saler. There, a 2600-metre long sandy beach awaits you, with the scent of pine trees on its edge.

1000 year old olive tree in Catalonia

Trees of biblical age: The route of the 1000 year old olive trees

Considered a symbol of life, they can live to be 2000 years old: olivetrees. The largest number of thousand-years-olds - including the oldest olive tree in the world, the Farga de Arión, planted in 314 - can be found around Ulldecona in south-eastern Catalonia.
There are 1500 specimens in the region and some of these methuselahs are reached by the Ruta de Olivos Milenarios - passing oil mills and muses. Even older than the olive trees are the nearby cave drawings of the Serra de Godall: about 8000 years ago, Stone Age people carved pictures of animalhuntings  and deities with red paint into the rock.