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The Berici hills are gentle high grounds, surfaced from an old sea, that embrace the town of Lumignano. These hills are a magical place awaiting to be discovered, perfect for walks in the nature and outdoor sport activities; it is also a place filled with antique historical villas and interesting cultural sites that will surprise you with their beauty. In the vicinity of the B&B in Valle, you can decide whether to choose an adventurous mountain bike route, go horse riding on the Berici hills, visit the famous Vento di Costozza cellars, or plan a trip to Vicenza, palladian city and Unesco heritage site, just a few kilometres away from our accommodation.

NATURE EXCURSIONS ON THE BERICI HILLS

Explore the beautiful Berici hills on foot or by bike, choosing one of the numerous routes available.

ART AND CULTURE IN THE CITY OF THE PALLADIO

Discover the wonderful city of Vicenza and its surroundings, through the charming historical palladian villas.

FOOD AND WINE TOURS

A land that boasts an ancient wine-making tradition where you can enjoy traditional recipes from the venetian cuisine.

HERMITAGE OF SAN CASSIANO

This extraordinary and evocative place perched on rocky slopes boasts an ancient millenial history suspended between reality and legend. It was originally carved out from the rocks by St. Teobaldo and St. Cassiano, who withdrew themselves here in hermitage and prayer and lived off the cultivation from the first terracements set on these hills. Further on, the hermitage became a shelter for Adelaide di Borgogna, queen of Italy and empress of the Franks, who found refuge here for a long period of time, in order to escape imprisonment ordered by Berengario, and before managing to finally flee to Este. The hermitage of San Cassiano of Lumignano is open to visitors and guided tours only on the first Sunday of every month. There are many different marked trails that lead you to the hermitage and that will allow you to admire it more closely. At the foot of the San Cassiano hermitage, just a few metres away from our B&B, you can see the small 14th century church ‘Madonna delle Nevi, which is also dedicated to the unlucky, yet brave queen. As Martina and her family are the key keepers of the Madonna delle Nevi church, if you wish to visit this small church that treasures a wooden sculpture and a precious altar from the 16th century, you can plan an organized tour of the church with them, at any moment.

ROCK CLIMBING GYM: CRAG OF LUMIGNANO

Lumignano is a place that was made famous above all, by the sport of free climbing, an activity that this locality has cherished since the origin of this sport. The crag of Lumignano is divided into different sectors, each one differing from the other in its particular aspect. The rock wall is calcareous and you can climb up through holes, reeds and erosion spots. The historical sectors for climbing are La Classica, which was climbed and bolted by famous mountain climbers such as Manolo, Renato Casarotto, Pietro Dal Prà and Michele Guerrini, after which other climbing sectors such as Brojon, Anfiteatro, Piramide, Naso di Bicio and many others can be tackled. The particular exposure of its walls, make the crag ideal for free climbing during the coldest months, however, it is also possible to climb up certain sectors in summer, such as the Sotto l’Eremo, or the recent, Lumignano Nuova. A complete guide, including names and difficulty levels of Lumignano’s free climbing routes, is available.

FOOD AND WINE TOURS AND DISCOVERING THE BERICI HILLS CELLARS

The Berici hills’ area has also been made famous for its wine, especially the red wines. The geological and envirnonmental conditions of these gentle high grounds have always supported vine cultivation, particularly the valuable local varieties such as the Carmenère, the Tai Rosso and the Garganega, all of which are considered high quality wine from the Berici hills. Close by, you can find many cellars that are open to the public, where you can taste, purchase excellent local wine and organize your own customized food and wine tour. Martina will be happy to offer advice in helping you to select the cellars where you can taste the best DOC wine from the Berici hills.

BERICI HILLS BY BICYCLE

Bicycle touring in the Berici hills area is a very popular activity, open to all, due to the existence of many routes with different levels of difficulty that can be done on a racing bike or a mountain bike. A long cycle lane runs throughout the Riviera Berica, and links Vicenza to the city of Noventa Vicentina, also joining other bike tracks that lead to the Colli Euganei (Euganei hills). There are many itineraries for racing bike enthusiasts; Strada dei Vini (the wine trail) is the most famous one that links Longare to Sossano. The latter differs from the cycle lane, as it draws an innermost circle through a delightfully naturalistic landscaped route. Once you have reached Sossano, you can decide whether to reach Montagnara and visit its marvellous walls, or continue on and discover Cologna Veneta instead. For mountain bike lovers, the Berici hills are the ideal place for excursions immersed in nature. Among the most popular routes for mountain biking, that you can either cover on the road, or on marked trails, there is the one that leads you to Fimon lake, a small, yet charming ice-age lake set in a valley by the same name. Through Villabalzana and the delightful Valle dei Mulini, you can admire the water-mills and visit the cave of San Bernardino. This is a really wonderful route to do by bycicle in spring, when the white-flowered cherry trees blossom and the Judas-tree roses brighten up the landscape.

WALKS ON THE BERICI HILLS

The Berici hills offer a great range of marked routes with differing levels of difficulty and effort, therefore everybody can enjoy enjoy walking, trekking or nordic walking. You can go for a walk on the tracks of Valle dei Mulini di Mossano, (Mossano’s wind-mills valley), go nordic walking in the area between Fimon lake and Arcugnano’s valleys, enjoy the lovely spring landscapes from the tracks at Villa del Ferro, by walking across Val Liona’s ridge, or admire the blooming orchards of the landscape between Castegnero and Nanto and then finally reach Covolo Murato di Castegnero. The cross of Lumignano that overlooks our B&B is a good destination for whoever wants to follow an easier trekking route, and enjoy the picturesque scenery of the town, and its surrounding hills from above. To get to the cross, follow the marked path near the church, and go in the direction of “Eremo” where at the first crossroad go left, down the wooden steps which lead you to the path that reaches the cross.

COSTOZZA

Just a few metres away from Lumignano, in the renowned area where Vincenza’s famous stone is extracted, you will find the charming historical hamlet of Costozza, embellished by lavish venetian villas, where famous people such as Galileo Galilei and Torquato Tasso stayed. Villa Da Schio, with its grand stairway and its gorgeous gardens, and Villa Trento Carli with its intricate system of wind tunnels, and ducts for cooling down the rooms, studied as an example by Andrea Palladio,are both open to visitors, although, in Villa Da Schio solely the gardens are visitable. From the Torre della Specola, a small hillside construction that stands independently from Villa Carli, once a watchtower in ancient times, Galileo Galilei apparently spent a great deal of time observing and analyzing the sky, in search of confirmation for his theories.

‘SAGRA DEI BISI’ IN LUMIGNANO (Peas’ festival)

Lumignano’s peas represent our land’s pride. The terracements, where this local fine quality of peas was grown back in the old days, sheltered and radiated heat to the seedlings, so that, according to tradition, these were the first peas in all Veneto to ripen just for the occasion of San Marco’s feast, patron saint of the Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, ‘Most Serene Republic of Venice’, where the doge (chief magistrate and leader) could enjoy this delicacy with rice, in the famous dish ‘risi e bisi’ (rice and peas). Every year, in the second week of May, Lumignano’s traditional peas’ festival takes place. Here, you can taste them, done according to the doge’s traditional recipe, with squid, with homemade pasta, or even in many of the other typical Vicentine recipes.

SAGRA DEL TARTUFO ESTIVO (Summer truffle’s festival)

A festival entirely dedicated to the Berici hills’ black truffle, a precious summer gem with a delicate and unique taste, that grows in the Berici hills’ woods. At Lumignano’s festival you can taste the famous ‘scorzone’ variety, in the typical local cuisine, such as risotto, or accompanied by tosella (a type of venetian fresh cheese) and polenta gialla (yellow cornmeal-mush). The festival takes place every year, during the first weekend of October.

MADONNA DELLE NEVI CHURCH

This small and charming oratory is nearby our B&B, right at the end of the street, Via La Valla’, of which our family has been, through the generations, the church’s custodian and stilli s at present. The church was probably built around the 14th century, was later expanded and restored during the 17th century, by the Dottori family, who also owned the San Cassiano’s hermitage at the time. Inside the church there is a 16th century altar clad in wood, some precious furnishings and a valuable 15th century wooden sculpture, which still retains part of its polychrome surface. If you wish to book a visit, please contact our B&B staff, who will be glad to accompany you for a short guided tour.