Living in an Italian Village With Kids: Our First 10-Day Residency in Ormea, Piedmont
In October, fifteen of us arrived in Ormea, a 1,000-year-old village of about 1,500 people in the mountains of Piedmont, Italy. We came from Cuba, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Florida and Australia. For ten days we did not visit the village. We lived in it.
This was the first edition of Roots & Future, a worldschooling family residency built with the people of Ormea. Every family rated it 10 out of 10. This post walks you through what living in an Italian village with kids actually looked like, day by day, and how you can do it too.
Roots & Future, our worldschooling family residency in Ormea, runs again May 8 to 17, 2027. Get the details by email, see the residency, or follow along on @bravefamilyroots.
Why an Italian village, and why the off-season
While Venice and Barcelona debate how to manage the crowds, places like Ormea rarely see visitors outside of summer. We chose October on purpose, and the next residency is in May for the same reason. Families get a quieter, more honest version of Italian village life, and the people who host them get visitors at a time of year when they are not already busy.
Ormea sits in the Val Tanaro, in the Province of Cuneo. Turin airport is about an hour and a half away, and the Ligurian coast is close enough for a day by the sea. A river runs below the old town, and you can be on a mountain trail ten minutes after leaving the café.
Families stayed in the village itself, at the town’s family-run hotel or in local apartments. One parent told me afterwards, “Having a real place to stay made me feel much more like a resident than any hotel room could.”
Day 1: the mayor, the nonni and a walk to the playground
We started with a long welcome lunch together. After a break, everyone walked a beautiful path out of the village toward the Scuola Forestale, the local forestry school. On the way there is a playground, and the kids started playing immediately. Some of them had met a few hours earlier. By the time we left they were friends.
Along the path we picked pears, apples and pine cones. At the Scuola Forestale we had a welcome aperitivo and dinner with people from the town, including the mayor, the nonni, and many of the residents who helped make the programme possible. Families met the people of Ormea on the very first evening, and everyone went to bed full and happy.
Day 2: the nonni, the museum and the kids’ favourite day
The nonni walked us through their town and told us what life used to be like. Then they took us through four floors of the town’s museum, which shows how families lived here.
In the afternoon came the day every child still talks about: the pasta class. Martina, a young chef trained at one of Italy’s most respected culinary schools, learned pasta from her own nonna. Anna has been making pasta her whole life. Together they taught every family, from the two-year-olds to the parents, to make fresh pasta by hand. I wrote a whole post about it: A Pasta Making Class in Italy With Kids.
Day 3: art class with the town’s children, e-bikes and wine
Giorgia teaches art to the children of Ormea in her own free time at her art lab, L’Ippo CreAttivo. She added extra classes so our kids could join the local children, and the whole thing happened in Italian. The kids made felt autumn trees and came out of that room with new friends. For the rest of the week our children knew children in the village, and so did we. More on that in Worldschooling in Italy With Kids.
Some of the parents rode e-bikes high into the mountains above the village with Orme a Cascine. Later we tasted wine with Azienda Lorenzo Ramò, a family winery with a woman winemaker, and ended the day with a film and pizza.
Day 4: the castle hike and a river picnic
We hiked up to the castle above the village, cooled off in the river, and had a picnic from Il Saraceno. That night there was karaoke at Bar Gemma, and I will leave it at that.
Day 5: chestnuts with Anna and a fire by the river
Autumn in the Val Tanaro means chestnuts. We went into the chestnut forest with Anna from Azienda Agricola Castagnino to harvest them, then roasted them over a fire by the river below the old town. One parent wrote, “Going out to harvest chestnuts really felt like a contribution rather than a plain activity.” The day ended with a gelato demonstration with Pietro at Sogni di Latte and dinner at Olmo.
Day 6: our one rainy day
It rained, and it turned out to be one of the cosiest days of the week. We visited some of the homes Majla has restored, made ornaments from local fabric with Anna, and warmed up with soup at the Scuola Forestale.
Day 7: a day on the Ligurian coast
We took a day trip down to Imperia on the Ligurian coast for a seafood lunch, and finished at a pizzeria.
Day 8: market day, a pizza party and the local football team
We went to the market in Garessio, the kids had a pizza party with village children, and in the evening we joined a merenda sinoira, the Piedmontese late-afternoon spread. Then half the town turned out to cheer on Ormea’s football team, ASD Ormea, and so did we.
Day 9: the gin made from olives, cookies and “Volare”
Families chose between an art session and a botanical walk. At Bar Stazione, Federica had baked cookies with every family’s name on them. In the evening, Olio ROI, a fifth-generation olive oil mill from nearby Badalucco, hosted an aperitivo with their olives and the gin the family’s son makes from Taggiasca olives.
Then the town’s accordion player, who had spent the whole week learning “Volare” just to play it for us, played it. I am not sure any of us will forget it.
Watch it for yourself: our October residency recap reel and the pasta class reel. Follow @bravefamilyroots for the full story, day by day.
What the families said
“I loved that the kids could just run around the town street! I loved how welcoming everyone was towards the children.”
“Overall we loved this Roots and Future trip! We are looking forward to coming back to this little town and maybe even buying some property here in the future.”
“Majla was so great to have to show us a locals’ perspective on everything! I think she was integral in this feeling like a residency rather than a tour trip.”
L’Unione Monregalese, the local paper, also wrote about the week.
Where to stay in Ormea: Majla’s homes
Majla, who coordinates the residency on the ground, restores houses in the village and opens them to visitors. You can follow her homes at @accidental_homes and her local experiences at @accidentaltourist_. These are her homes in Ormea:
- Casa Piccina, a cosy mountain village retreat that sleeps 4 plus 1. One of our October families stayed here and loved it.
- The little house, a romantic nest with a mountain-view terrace that sleeps 2 plus 1.
- The family getaway, two apartments together with a scenic mountain-view terrace, sleeping 6 plus 2. Ideal for a bigger family or two families travelling together.
Heading to Tuscany too? Majla also has apartments in a small castle in the Chianti hills near Florence, with a tower dating to 1146: the Tower apartment, the Penthouse, or the two together as the Tower Penthouse, a great family or group stay. You can climb one of the towers and have your aperitivo on top of a castle with the whole Chianti region around you. Read about it in our castle stay near Florence.
Living in an Italian village with kids: your questions
Do we need to be worldschoolers?
No. Roots & Future is for any family that wants their kids to experience somewhere real. Whether your children go to school at home or in a building makes no difference.
Does it work with a toddler?
Yes. We had two-year-olds with us, and by the end of the week they were saying things in Italian. Babies under 2 join at €500, and the days leave room for naps and early nights.
Can I come as a solo parent?
Yes. The whole group eats, explores and looks out for each other.
How much does it cost?
€3,000 per adult, €1,500 per child aged 2 and up, and €500 for babies under 2. A €500 deposit holds your spot and the balance can be split into payments. Flights are not included. Activities vary by season and the full itinerary is confirmed before arrival.
Roots & Future runs again May 8 to 17, 2027
A ten-day worldschooling family residency in Ormea, a 1,000-year-old village in Piedmont. You live in the village, your kids learn alongside the children who live there, and the money you spend stays with the people who host you.
Get the full details by email · See the residency and book your spot
See every day of it on Instagram: @bravefamilyroots for the residency and @bravefamilytravel for our family travels.