Rail Europe continues network expansion with Arenaways, opening up slow travel in authentic Piedmont

Rail Europe is continuing to expand its European rail portfolio with the addition of Arenaways, giving international travellers and travel professionals easier access to a lesser-known side of Piedmont.

The integration is the latest in a series of additions to Rail Europe’s growing portfolio and carrier network, following BritRail, European Sleeper, Leo Express and Campania Express earlier this year. It also reflects Rail Europe’s ambition to make regional rail journeys easier to discover and book, not only the major high-speed routes between Europe’s best-known cities.

For travellers, Arenaways offers the opportunity to build a compact slow-travel itinerary around Piedmont’s food, culture and local communities. The region is closely connected to Slow Food, the international movement founded in Italy to protect local food traditions, biodiversity and small-scale producers.

Busca has two restaurants awarded the prestigious Chiocciola in Slow Food’s 2026 Osterie d’Italia guide, while Saluzzo is home to another Chiocciola-recognised osteria. The area is also known for local products such as the Slow Food-protected white hen of Saluzzo and wines produced in the surrounding hills.

The regional line connects seven stops — Cuneo, Busca, Costigliole Saluzzo, Verzuolo, Manta, Saluzzo and Savigliano — making it possible to explore an area that is often missing from traditional Italian rail itineraries.

Along the route, travellers can visit the Castello della Manta, home to an exceptional collection of late-Gothic secular frescoes; explore the medieval centre of Saluzzo; or stop in Savigliano to see Piazza Santa Rosa, one of Italy’s best-preserved medieval squares.

The route also offers practical advantages for families. Children under four travel free without their own seat, while those aged four to eleven receive a 50% discount.

Tickets are available through standard point-to-point fares. By making them accessible through its platform, Rail Europe allows travellers and travel sellers to add these regional journeys more easily to a wider Italian or European itinerary.

The addition gives travel professionals a new way to respond to growing interest in slower, more locally rooted journeys, while helping international travellers discover a part of Italy that remains outside the country’s most familiar tourism corridors.