Combine the Passion Play of Sordevolo with the charm of Piedmont and the beauty of Lake Maggiore. Since the late 15th century, the play was performed on Good Friday in the Colosseum, with a large attendance of people, pilgrims, travellers and notables. Since 1816 the entire community of Sordevolo has been representing the Passion of Christ. The performance takes place in a 4,000 square metre open space where a reconstructed corner of Jerusalem stands, dating back to 33AD, including Herod’s Palace, Synedrium, Pontius Pilate’s Praetorium, the Garden of Gethsemane, the cenacle and the Calvary. The 3-hour performance consists of a prologue and 29 scenes, with an overall participation of about 400 actors and walk-on characters.
12 days from £1259 pp
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your tour either online, or by telephone ( 01709 787 463 ), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can:
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then travel to northern France for an overnight stay.
Continue to our hotel in the Acqui Terme area for three nights.
Today we include an excursion which takes us firstly to Alba in the heart of the Langhe, a landscape of rolling hills and lush vineyards. We will have free time to explore this small village known as the ‘City of 100 Towers’.
We continue to La Morra and Barolo and visit a traditional wine cellar where our taste buds will rejoice tasting some classic wines and local products.
Today we will head to Turin, a majestic city that leaves nothing wanting: the cathedral, obelisks, grand squares and boulevards, the castle, and the Piazza San Carlo are all waiting for you! We will have free time to climb the awe-inspiring Mole Antonelliana or visit the renowned Egyptian Museum. You may also wish to visit one of the city’s historic cafés to enjoy a 'Bicerin', a local hot drink.
Today, we explore the city of Biella where our guide will show you the cathedral and the 11th-century Baptistery before taking the funicular up to the medieval old town situated on top of Piazzo hill.
Here you will walk through porticoes which are characteristic of this part of town and visit some of the old palaces and noble villas from whose gardens you will see panoramic views of lower Biella and its spectacular mountain range.
In the afternoon we head to Lake Viverone – a pretty blue jewel amidst the green woodland and fields of Piedmont.
Later, we head to Sordevolo for dinner in a local restaurant.
Tonight, we enjoy the highlight of our tour, the Passion Play performance. Following the play, we will return to the hotel.
Included Highlights
We leave Biella and head to charming Lake Orta. We include a boat trip to Isola San Giulia to visit the 10th-century abbey.
Enjoy free time in Orta before continuing to Lake Maggiore where we stay for four nights.
Today we enjoy a day exploring the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore.
We head to Stresa we board our boat for Isola Bella to visit the Borromean Palace with its beautiful hanging gardens.
We continue our cruise to Isola dei Pescatori, with its characteristic streets and restaurants where fish specialities from the lake can be sampled.
We then proceed to Isola Madre, famous for its botanical garden.
We head by boat for Locarno, an elegant town situated in the Swiss part of Lake Maggiore. From here we join the Centovalli (Hundred Valleys) train to Domodossola.
The journey passes through magnificent scenery where you can admire the narrow valleys and waterfall cascades.
We return by coach from Domodossola.
Please note this excursion may operate in reverse
Morning departure for the fashion capital of Milan. Join our included guided tour and see the cathedral, one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the world.
You will also visit the Vittoria Emanuele arcade, La Scala Opera House and the Sforzesco Castle.
There will be some free time to try a typical Milanese aperitif in one of the many bars in the centre or to walk through the Quadrilatero della Moda fashion district.
Sadly, it’s time to say ‘arrivederci’ to Italy. We head to northern France for an overnight stay.
Return home.
Sordevolo Passion Play - Ticket Upgrades available on request
Cat 3 ticket £10pp
Cat 2 ticket £20pp
Cat 1 ticket £40pp
Travel Insurance from £42.00 (12 days) (includes insurance premium tax, prices per person). Single Room Supplement from £349.00 (12 days).
Book online OR call our friendly travel advisers on:
01709 787 463
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
You will stay for three nights at the 3-star Hotel Valentino in Acqui Terme. You will then stay for two nights in the Biella area at the 3-star Hotel Europa. Four nights will be spent on Lake Maggiore at the 3-star Hotel Dei Fiori in Baveno.
Overnight stays in northern France will be in city style hotels.
Front row seats can be reserved for £15pp (up to 6 days duration), £25pp (7 and 8 days duration), £30pp (9 to 11 days) or £35pp (12 days or more) on all European tours. This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on our Executive and Silver Service coaches and for one or two persons on our Luxuria coaches and is subject to availability. In addition to this, seats on the second row can be reserved for a supplement of £8pp (up to 6 days duration), £15pp (7 and 8 days duration), £18pp (9 to 11 days) or £22pp (12 days or more).
Guaranteed front or second row seats cannot be reserved on transfer journeys to/from the UK port. Occasionally, front and second row seats may be on a request only basis.
Please note: children under 15 years of age are not permitted to sit in the front seats of any coach.
On some coaches the legroom on front seats, central view seats and seats directly in front of the washroom may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled or merged for any reason and front or second row seats or central view seats or table seats are not available on your tour, you will be refunded any supplement paid. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
Central View Seats are available to pre-book free of charge.
Table Seats are available to pre-book free of charge on our Luxuria coaches.
Transfer coaches are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure. The route taken depends on where paassengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
When it comes to getting you to your destination, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you to choose from.
We have hundreds of coach joining points throughout England, Scotland and Wales. To find your nearest joining point, search using your postcode below.
*Please note joining points are subject to availability.
Why not go the night before your tour for a relaxing start?
You can park for FREE for up to nine days at the Holiday Inn Ashford North and enjoy an overnight stay with English breakfast from just £41.50 per person (Based on 2 sharing a twin/double room on a B&B basis, subject to availability. Single supplements and terms and conditions apply.) We’ll then collect you from the hotel on the day of departure and return you there at the end of your holiday.
To book this package, please call the hotel on 01233 713333, select option 1, quoting ‘Leger Holidays’ and your booking reference. If your holiday is longer than seven days you can pay for additional days’ parking. Ask one of our friendly reservations team for more details when you book your holiday
On most holidays if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines. Excludes holidays to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.
On Single Traveller holidays and coach holidays of 7 days’ duration or more, you don’t even have to think about getting to your local joining point. If you live within 20 miles of one of our free joining points we’ll pick you up from your home and take you to meet your transfer vehicle, then return you back home at the end of your holiday. The cost is from £40 per booking each way for up to four people per booking.
If you live a little further afield, you can also take advantage of this convenient option for an additional charge – please enquire at the time of booking.
To book this tour, just give our friendly team a call on 01709 787 463 or book online at www.leger.co.uk