Civita di Bagnoregio and Bolsena

PRICE

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The tour can be tailored to your group’s needs.

ACCOMMODATION

• Resort Alla Corte delle Terme***
• Agriturismo Il Marrugio
• Agriturismo La Commenda
• Frantoio Battaglini

CIVITA DI BAGNOREGIO AND BOLSENA

Arrival in Viterbo and check-in at the Resort Alla Corte delle Terme**** or at Agriturismo Il Marrugio.

Departure for Civita di Bagnoregio to visit the ancient village, set on a tufa hill amid the splendid Valle dei Calanchi — an incomparable sight. The writer Bonaventura Tecchi called it the “dying town”, and this is partly true: Civita stands on very precarious ground and risks collapse, as the vast clay banks supporting it are subject to continuous erosion. Witness to this are the majestic calanchi (badlands), stretching for kilometres and giving the whole landscape a lunar appearance at sunset. This wonderful village is a tiny centre where time seems to have stopped, reachable only on foot via a reinforced-concrete bridge. From the eastern cliff one can admire the “Ponticelli”, enormous natural clay walls, the last trace of an erosion process begun thousands of years ago and still ongoing.

Free time for lunch.

Transfer to Vetriolo to visit the Hortus Unicorni with its eclectic owner — a splendid botanical garden overlooking the Calanchi valley, home to magnolias, lilies, peonies, irises, box hedges and ceanothus shrubs, with local plants and species from many countries.

Transfer to Civitella d’Agliano to visit Paul Wiedmer’s fabulous garden, La Serpara. Sculpture gardens have a rich European tradition dating back to the Roman Empire, rising to an art form during the Renaissance. What makes the Serpara Sculpture Park extraordinary is its personal connection to the history of its origins. The Serpara Park-Museum grows year by year with the installation of new works by Paul Wiedmer and by invited artist friends, while the botanical garden becomes ever more enchanting with natural ornaments.

Dinner and overnight stay at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Transfer to Vaiano to visit La Vigna estate, a varied, lush garden contrasting with the bare Calanchi landscape in which it sits. The stars are the countless shrubs and roses with elegant, fragrant blooms, generously scattered through the garden, among the topiary and even in the vineyard: one plant at the head of each row, in an old and wise country tradition.

Brunch with a tasting of typical products and of the excellent wine produced in the sumptuous cellars of the D’Amico family, owners of the estate.

Then a visit to La Canonica, a small garden with a surprising view over the calanchi and a Mediterranean feel, thanks to evergreen shrubs and fragrant bushes — a discreet garden in harmony with its surroundings.

Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Departure for Marta and a visit to the private garden of La Cannara. Mrs Mirella devoted over twenty years to creating a garden of about one hectare. Beside the river and around a small lake: trees and shrubs, bamboo, lawns and flowers. Roses and peonies, irises and violets, poppies and callas, right up to the great lotus flower — a discreet yet continuous design, more romantic than geometric. An original, unforgettable garden.

Then transfer to Bolsena. Tasting of extra-virgin olive oil and honeys at the Frantoio Battaglini Antica Tuscia. Visit to the La Luccica garden, on the Viterbo countryside rich in ancient Etruscan and Roman history around the beauty of Lake Bolsena — a great volcanic basin whose water is so crystalline it is nicknamed “the lake you can drink”. Here lies the sunlit realm of engineer Gian Lupo Osti, with unique collections of tree peonies and a fascinating garden.

Lunch at Agriturismo La Commenda. Departure and end of services.