Bella Baita

Marla and Fabrizio

Description of accommodation and area: The Chisone and Germansca valleys are located in the Cottian alps west of Turin towards Sestriere ski area. With three nearby regional parks and a natural common mountain border with France, you are spoiled for choice for all manner of outdoor activities in a spectacular mountainous setting. Flora and fauna is varied and plentiful as well. Italy is famous for its gastronomy and Piedmont's regal reputation for it's wine and cuisine is well deserved. Bella Baita is our small family inn with a magnificent panoramic view of the French border in Val Germansca. We are surrounded by pine and chestnut forests in a tranquil hamlet, or borgata. There are only a handful of us that live here year round, with more inhabitants in the summer. We offer B&B, evening meals and cookery and wine seminars. There is also a charming restaurant located next door and another 3 km to the end of our road. Access to cooking facilities is possible, while cooking supplies need to be purchased in town, 6 km down the mountain.

At the local market

The Cosmofil experience: Our not so well known area is beautiful and accessible for all levels of outdoor activities and rich in history and culinary possibilities. We enjoy facilitating guests discovery of the area and their interests. We offer tailor made cooking courses and local wine tasting for insight into local traditions. Although the 2006 winter Olympic games were held here, it is still novel for the local population to come across international guests. They are genuinely welcoming and eager to share their homeland with visitors. We offer a nice balance between peaceful relaxation, active sport and city and cultural exploration with Turin(Torino) being 50 km away. There are a number of other sights scattered about for interesting day outings. We can offer many suggestions for making the most of your holiday

Making pasta

Language support: Fabrizio is Italian and his parents, who speak no English, live next door, so there is plenty of opportunity to practice your Italian. They are able to support all levels of Italian and local Piemontese dialect as well. Marla is able to navigate through the market and and shopping as well as everyday icebreaker level of conversation and will be learning along with you also. Italians are quite friendly in general and you will find our neighbours quite helpful when you speak with them.

Cooking at home

Activities: In addition to walking possibilities up or down, we have mountain bikes available for hire. There is a technical climbing area at the end of our road. We organize custom cooking and wine seminars some which go to the large local market inPinerolo or to the vintner just outside of Pinerolo . In the summer there are 2 chair lifts that operate in two different nearby ski areas that offer an easy opportunity for high level walking, reasonably priced. A small museum of local furniture and farm implements is located at the bottom of our road, the Talc mine in ValGermansca offers tours deep into the mine, the largest Fotress in Europe, Fenestrelle, is located in our valley and combined with the charming village of Usseaux, makes an interesting day out. Pinerolo twice weekly locals market combined with a wander around the historic old town is another interesting day and there are other possibilities as well.

Other: If guests have specific interests that we can help them discover please ask in advance and we will research for them to better enhance their stay. We have had guests looking for family history, specific wine makers they desired to meet or hunting for porcini mushrooms and truffles, for example. We have helped them all in their quest with good results.