What does it actually feel like to raise your kids in an undiscovered Italian village? Ten days. Real locals. Real life. This is your family's test-run for la dolce vita.
"We've been having the 'we should move to Europe' conversation for three years. This is finally a way to actually feel it before we commit."— Family from our interest form
What ROOTS & Future actually is
Over 300 families filled in our interest form. The same question kept coming up: "What would make this a YES for us?" The answer was almost always the same — we need to feel it first. We need to know if our family could actually live this way.
ROOTS & Future exists for exactly that. Ten days of village residency where you're not a tourist — you're trying on the life. And May is Italy at its most alive — wildflowers in the Alps, the village before summer, a pace that lets you actually feel what it would be like to live here.
You'll meet village elders, visit an artisan workshop that's been open for three generations, and forage for chestnuts with a local farmer. These aren't staged experiences. They're introductions.
Your kids spend two full days at a local children's art studio. They make pizza with kids from the village. They hike with a guide who grew up here. And each child is paired with a local kid their own age — a real friendship, not a programme.
There are properties available in this village at prices that are almost impossible to believe compared to where most of you are coming from. If you're curious, we'll arrange informal walks. No agents. No pressure. Just looking.
We cap at 5 families. Everyone eats together, hikes together, explores together. By day four, your kids are inseparable. By day ten, you're already planning how to come back.
Who ROOTS & Future is for
Worldschooling families
You're already rotating through countries. Japan, Spain, Peru, wherever the year takes you. Ormea is your May. A real base. A real village. A real spring in the Italian Alps.
Families considering a European move
81.5% of our interest-form families said moving abroad is one of their primary reasons for being here. This village residency gives you 10 days of real data before you commit anything. What it costs. What it feels like. Who's there.
Families who want something real
No move planned. No agenda. You've been saying "one day we'll do something like this" for years. May in an Italian mountain village, with children who will never forget it, is one day.
Who you are actually meeting
The hotel has been in the same family for generations. The restaurants are run by the people your children will make friends with. The craftspeople who lead your workshops live here. Every person you meet in this programme is someone you would call a neighbor if you ever did move here. By the time you leave Ormea, that part is already done — you won't be starting from zero. You'll already know people.
Village Skills — what we've always called workshops
The museum curator spent decades collecting, restoring, and cataloguing every object in his museum. Nobody paid him to. He did it because someone had to. When you walk through those doors, you are paying for his time — and every euro goes back to the museum. The woman who teaches you to sew has been making things for this village her whole life. What you make in that session is yours to take home. The woodcarver learned from his father. Your children learn from him. These are not activities. They are introductions to a life that still exists here.
Your nonna and nonno
There are people in Ormea who remember when the mountain paths were the main routes between communities. Who know every family in every house. Who can read the season by the smells in the market. Nonna and Nonno are among them. They walk with you through the village at their own pace, on their own terms — the markets, the ingredient sources, the places they've known their whole lives. This is not a tour. It is what happens when you stop being a visitor.
Your cooking class, your guides, your language teacher
The woman who teaches you to cook learned it from her own nonna. The Italian language teacher's family has lived in Ormea for four generations. The guides know the mountain trails because they grew up on them. Every class, every session, every tour is led by someone for whom this village is not a destination — it is home.
The Destination
Mountain air. A cold, clear river below the old town. Chestnut forests on every hillside. Medieval streets that lean into each other at odd angles — built before cars, before tourism, before anyone thought to make them pretty for visitors. They just still are.
90 minutes from Turin airport. 45 minutes from the Ligurian coast. The families we've talked to had never heard of it. That, honestly, is the whole appeal.
Ormea · May 2026
Piedmont · Province of Cuneo · Val Tanaro · Maritime Alps
750m above sea level · Limestone peaks reaching 2,000m+
~1,700 residents · Multi-generational families · Not a tourist town
Turin Caselle (TRN) · 90-minute mountain transfer included
This is not a destination that peaks in August. May is when the Alps are green, the trails open up, and the village is fully inhabited by locals — no summer tourists.
Wildflower season. The mountains around Ormea are covered in wildflowers in May. The air is cool, the light is long, and the valley is at its most beautiful before summer heat arrives.
The landscape is extraordinary: green Alpine meadows, clear mountain rivers, and the village coming alive for spring. The restaurants have their seasonal menus. The village feels inhabited by its actual inhabitants.
The local markets are running and the village rhythms are fully active. You're arriving into real daily life, not a summer version staged for visitors.
May = peak Alpine bloom. Families walk the mountain trails together. The valley is green and the air is cool.
Cool and crisp: 12–20°C by day. Mountain air. Layers recommended. No humidity.
The village is inhabited by locals in May. You'll experience real daily life, not a version staged for summer visitors.
Nearby towns hold market days throughout May. Local cheeses, cured meats, wine, honey, spring vegetables. We'll go together.
There are people in this village who have lived here for 80 years. Who remember when the mountain trails were the main routes between communities. Who know every family in every house.
The village has artisan workshops still operating — wood carvers, textile workers, local craftspeople. A wine producer. A gelato maker who has been making gelato the same way for decades. A mountain rescue school that has been educating foresters for a century.
During the village residency, your family will be introduced to Nonna and Nonno — active village elders who still live and work in the village. They walk with you through the markets, the ingredient sources, the places they've known their whole lives. These are real relationships, not a cultural exchange exercise.
Wood carving, textile work, gelato, wine — all still practised here by families who chose to stay.
We arrange introductions with long-term village residents. Real conversations. Real stories. Unscripted every time.
The village has an active forestry training school with orchards, wine production, and guided forest programmes. You'll visit it.
There are properties available in this village. For families who want to explore further, we can arrange informal real estate walks on free time.
Ormea from above · May 2026
We've built this for mixed-age families. There are activities that split children and adults, and activities that bring everyone together. No one is left in a hotel room.
Children's art lab (full day). Forest foraging and chestnut roasting. Pizza-making evening with local children. Woodworking workshop. Kids' pizza party.
Wine tasting with a local producer — in the village. Cooking class with a village cook. Optional real estate exploration. Textile workshop. Italian language sessions.
Guided mountain hikes. Market day trips. Coastal day trip. Village elder meetings. Farewell dinner. Gelato lab. Italian karaoke night.
Babies in arms through teenagers. Solo parents welcome. We cap at 5 families so every child has peers in the group.
By air: Fly into Turin-Caselle airport (TRN). This is the most direct option. Flights connect from most European hubs and some intercontinental routes via European connections.
Airport transfer: We arrange minivan transfers from Turin airport to the village on arrival day (May 8) and return on departure day (May 17). This is included in the residency fee. The drive takes approximately 1.5 hours through increasingly beautiful mountain scenery.
By car: If you're already in Europe or prefer to hire a car, you can also drive directly. The village is easy to reach by road and has free parking.
Turin Caselle (TRN) · Transfer included in residency fee · ~1.5hr journey
Genoa (GОА) via Ligurian coast road · Nice (NCE) via French Alps · Milan (MXP/LIN) 2.5hrs
Also reachable by road from anywhere in northern Italy. Free parking in the village centre. Road is good all the way in.
The Ligurian coast — sea, fish markets, harbour towns — is 45 minutes away. We go there as a group during the village residency.
The Experience
Every day has a focus — but nothing is over-scheduled. You'll have mornings that are free and evenings that surprise you. The full day-by-day itinerary is available to enquiring families.
What's Included
One fee. No surprises. Here's what it covers:
