Piedmont region? (Italy)

[bltkmt]

We are planning another trip to Italy, likely 2 weeks this time. We have previously done Florence (twice), Rome, Venice and Cinque Terre. I would like to stay in one place for this trip and have a car to tour the region. Thinking of Piedmont as we have never been and I love Nebbiolo wines. Any thoughts or suggestions from those that have been?

 

[harllee]

I clicked on this thread thinking you were talking about the Piedmont region of North Carolina which I know a lot about. Don't know anything about Piedmont region of Italy.

 

[bltkmt]

Apologies...I cannot edit the subject line it seems.

 

[brett]

We are planning another trip to Italy, likely 2 weeks this time. We have previously done Florence (twice), Rome, Venice and Cinque Terre. I would like to stay in one place for this trip and have a car to tour the region. Thinking of Piedmont as we have never been and I love Nebbiolo wines. Any thoughts or suggestions from those that have been?

One of my former colleagues grew up in the area. He would return every two years or so.

I distinctly remember being surprised when he told me he always flew in to Switzerland and rented a car for his three or four week stay. He said that it was much less expensive to rent a car in Switzerland than it was in that part of Italy.

 

[Bamaman]

I follow Rick Steves closely, and am often a poster there. But I seldom if ever see anyone talking about going to the Italian Piedmont Region around Turin. It's about 90 minutes west of Milan.

The area is the home of Fiat and is the most industrious section of Italy. There are many things to see there, including car museums. And I understand the Piedmont area food is fantastic.

If I was going there, I'd also be taking in Milan and the Lake Como/Lugano area to the north. Many world travelers put that at the top of their lists.

We were just in Ravenna, Bologna and Venice a month ago. I never tire of Italy, but we are also very fond of visiting Austria's Alps too.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I have spent a total of 8 weeks in the Piedmont region, 2 week visits annually from 2016-2019, participating in a music festival in Alba. There are local tourist offices that can set you up with a winery tour and other tours. The food is exquisite.

The Piedmont region of Italy has the most UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world. Grinzane Cavour Castle I’ve visited twice. On one clear day I could see the Matterhorn from the castle. There are multiple hilltop castles. Turin has 25 museums. What I enjoyed most in Turin was the Royal Palace and gardens. The first Sunday of the month they offer free entrance to several of the museums, including the palace and gardens.

I stayed in Alba, where the music festival occurs. There are musical offerings there year round. Alba is a medieval town built on top of Roman ruins, where the center is shaped like an octagon based on the Roman wall structure. There are places in the town where portions of the Roman ruins are exposed. They also have underground ruins tours twice a month, conducted in Italian but you can get an English transcript/program of each tour. Alba is also the world headquarters of Farrero chocolate, the maker of Nutella. It is situated between the Barolo and Barbaresco wine regions. You can arrange a winery tour through the town tourist office. I arranged three winery tours myself; each one was different. Because we had 8 people on each tour, we paid about €60 each, and each time we also had lunch. The tours included a castle and/or old town visit in addition to the winery. There are wineries there that have been family owned for several centuries.

I took the local train into Turin and back. BTW, flying into Turin is easy. We were driven into Alba by small bus. Not much traffic once you left the city. It is much slower paced than the tourist capitals of Italy.

In the fall, Alba has a white truffle festival. But I only visited in the spring, so never experienced that. The themes of the region are: wine, slow food, truffles, music, hazelnuts, and chocolate.

I would have gone back for this year’s festival, but our group was excluded due to the refusal of our conductor to get a vaccine. (Grrrr).

Another issue is the Po River nearly dry.

 

[bltkmt]

Thanks all - very helpful!

 

[brett]

We are planning another trip to Italy, likely 2 weeks this time. We have previously done Florence (twice), Rome, Venice and Cinque Terre. I would like to stay in one place for this trip and have a car to tour the region. Thinking of Piedmont as we have never been and I love Nebbiolo wines. Any thoughts or suggestions from those that have been?

This is EXACLY, IMHO, how to see and experience Italy. So many different regions.

So much better and more rewarding than Venice to Naples and everything in between in 14 or 21 days.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have always thought that the Piedmont region is a bit further up north, closer to Switzerland. Indeed, Google says:

Piedmont, a region of Italy bordering France and Switzerland, sits at the foot of the Alps. It’s known for sophisticated cuisine and wines such as Barolo. Turin, the capital, has abundant baroque architecture and the monumental landmark Mole Antonelliana, with its soaring spire.

But on the map, the Piedmont region extends quite a bit south past Turin. And it got close to the Mediterranean Sea, including what I thought was in Liguria. I was surprised to learn Alba is in the Piedmont region.

Anyway, the northern part of Piedmont is on my next trip, along with Lake Maggiore. I will revisit Lake Como, on the way to South Tyrol.

 

[Pellice]

If you like mountains and forests, go beyond Turin, up, up, the Val de Susa or Chisone or Pellice to Italy's green mountains and waterfalls. This is dairying country, and I had the best cheese I've ever eaten from a Friday market there. Torre Pellice is the capital of Italy's small population of native Protestants, the only "heretics" to survive the Middle Ages (they became good Swiss Calvinists). Their history is very interesting. Lots of hiking trails - you could even follow Hannibal's route over to France.
Italy is largely deforested and dry and hot - but not this area. It is lush and verdant, wth tumbling streams. Beyond is the Savoie of France. Good, rich, French-style food, not what you think of as Italian. (It's ironic that this area of rich and lucious food was starvation alley for peasants up through the 19th century).

 

[Gumby]

I recommend Orta San Julio on Lago d'Orta. Also Stresa and the Isole Borromee on Lago Maggiore. It is very lovely to hike between them if you are in good shape (it's about 13-14 miles). That's what the young wife and I did, albeit 15 years ago. There are inns along the way if you wanted to break up the trek.

 

[bigreader]

I have twice spent a month in Torino and I think it is one of my favorite places in Italy. It is historically important in the unification of Italy (and before), has strong influence from the House of Savoy and great, great museums and sites. The Egyptian Museum is that largest outside Egypt and the Mole Antonelliana has a wonderful museum of cinema. The city was the industrial center during WWII (and was heavily bombed) and in the post war period so in some ways it doesn't look classically Italian. But there is so much to do, a somewhat unique culture plus you can see the Alps from your window.

Piedmonte is a lovely region with excellent wine and food. If you are into such things, it is the home of the Slow Food movement and is where the food store Eataly started. If you are a fan of Italian food and wine it is definitely a worth a visit.

Two other points before I get my commission from the the Piedmonte Tourist Board. First, Turin is easy to reach from Milan by train, is well located for visits to Val D'Aosta and the city of Aosta (which I have heard is fantastic although I haven't made it yet) and Genoa. You don't need a car in Torino and access by train is excellent. Second, it is not overrun by tourists. You won't have the place to yourself, but tourism is understated as compared to other big cities in Italy.
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[NW-Bound]

In a past trip, driving from Lake Como to Geneva, I went through the northern Piedmont area, but of course could not see much from the freeway.

Just south of Matterhorn, this area of Italy has a heavy French influence, as evidenced by the place names all being French, e.g. Châtillon, Saint-Marcel, etc...

Ah, so many places, so little time...

PS. Chamois is a town in this northern part of Piedmont. Interesting. However, the chamois as an animal is originally native to the Pyrenees, quite a bit to the southwest of Piedmont, and in between France and Spain.

 

[Bamaman]

Our next trip was going to be to Slovenia, Croatia and down to Montenegro--and to our beloved Budapest.

Now I may need to make a detour over to Turin. One of my closest business friends lives in Lugano, and he's been after us to come over there anyway. I've been to Italy 10 times, but you just cannot see it all in the 52 years I've been going there.

 

[oiseux]

This is a really great region of Italy, and (@EastWestGal) the fall is especially magical in Alba. The truffle fair is a bit commercial but still great, and you can also buy wine there (and at the various cooperatives in the area). I remember one evening hitting Barbaresco, in the ancient center, as the harvest trucks came in to unload their prize into the central bins in the village square. And the truffles dominate the menu in the fall, with tremendous pasta and steak with truffled tallegio.

As others have said, Torino is fantastic with great museums, markets, restaurants and a lively culture of apertivo. We have a friend from this area (a displaced Roman who still considers this home), and we spent one memorable 6 hour lunch not far away at an agriturismo, high on a local mountaintop. Interestingly, this is one of the places where you will hear older locals speaking in the local language, Piemontese.

Our last trip, we stayed in Cherasco for a long weekend, sampling the plin (little pinched pasta filled with wine-braised beef) and staying in a converted monastery. Sampling the Barolo (in the namesake village) and awaiting our next visit.

Driving is easy, outside of Torino (the historic center is even limited in terms of vehicles). Driving from village to village is what I recommend, but don't be afraid to branch out of the Barolo wine region. I've only just sampled the far north and have only driven to the west (through the coastal mountains, Cuneo area)

This is about a 2 hour drive from our place in France to the western part of the region, and we look forward to exploring even more about the area. I also used to come down from my place in Switzerland, back when I was an expat.

 

[bltkmt]

Update - we are now thinking of doing a week in Turin (with a car to explore) and then a week in Lake Como and area.

 

[audreyh1]

We spent nearly a week in Turin associated with a business meeting, loved it. It’s not a tourist city, but it has plenty of sites - museums, awesome huge arboretum park next to the river, and close to spectacular mountains.

We took a train from Milan and it was really cool closing the Po River valley.

Turin is a larger city home to automotive industry among others.

 

[explanade]

I've only been to Piedmont once, spent a couple of days in Torino and then another couple in Aosta.

It's kind of difficult to fly to from the US. I flew into Verona and out of Torino airport. Or I may have flown Torino to Rome and then flew back to the US.

Torino is nice but it was a long drive from Lake Como to Torino so I haven't been back.

It was in early June and Aosta was beautiful but I never got to go up Courmayeur because it was closed due to avalanche risk.

You could drive across the border to France and reach Chamonix but you're going through a famous long tunnel, an engineering marvel that costs like €50 each way.

I've since visited Chamonix twice, easier to reach via Geneva, went up to Aiguille du Midi, didn't take the gondola crossing into Italy though.

I think one of the popular activities is going to wineries. Maybe there are guided tours so you don't have to drive after doing some wine tastings.

 

[rodi]

Piedmont is on my list - mainly for the food and wine.

Just a nit (totally my issue of nitpicking) - it was stated up above that Piedmont had the most Unesco World Heritage sites... but that is not quite true. ITALY has the most, as a country. (China is #2)... But within Italy, Sicily has 6 sites, Piedmont has 5. (Lazio, home to Rome, also has 5.) I think all the greek ruins and baroque towns in Sicily kick it up.

 

[NW-Bound]

I've only been to Piedmont once, spent a couple of days in Torino and then another couple in Aosta.

It's kind of difficult to fly to from the US. I flew into Verona and out of Torino airport. Or I may have flown Torino to Rome and then flew back to the US.

Torino is nice but it was a long drive from Lake Como to Torino so I haven't been back.

It was in early June and Aosta was beautiful but I never got to go up Courmayeur because it was closed due to avalanche risk.

You could drive across the border to France and reach Chamonix but you're going through a famous long tunnel, an engineering marvel that costs like €50 each way.

I've since visited Chamonix twice, easier to reach via Geneva, went up to Aiguille du Midi, didn't take the gondola crossing into Italy though.

I think one of the popular activities is going to wineries. Maybe there are guided tours so you don't have to drive after doing some wine tastings.

I drove through the above Mont Blanc tunnel when going from Lake Como to Geneva. Did not have time to visit Chamonix or Courmayeur. Don't have time this upcoming trip either. A month is not long enough to visit everything in my path.

This time, I will drive from France to Italy to the north of both Mont Blanc and Matterhorn. On the return leg, will drive to the south of these mountains.

I have not finalized the return leg segment from Verona back to Grenoble. I don't have time to visit Turin, yet want to schedule a night stop to break up the drive. I can divert to spend a night in Aosta. From Aosta to Grenoble, it looks like a lot of interesting backroads.

 

[kevink]

I've been to Piedmont three times and can't wait to return.

There's much to see and do but my focus was on the food and wine, which is very likely the best in all of Italy - and arguably the best in Europe. I recommend getting a copy of "Passion for Piedmont" by the well-known wine and food writer Matt Kramer. In addition to great recipes he offers authoritative guidance on wine producers and places to visit.

Also essential reading if only by checking it out from the library is "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler" by Fred Plotkin. It's old enough that specific restaurant and retailer recommendations won't be useful or accurate all of the time but it remains unrivaled as a guide to the smaller as well as larger towns and villages throughout Italy that have the most iconic regional foods and wines.

I'd recommend taking the train to Alba, getting an AirBnB or hotel there and renting a car for a few days to tour the surrounding wine villages.

In addition to food and wine of the highest caliber Piedmont grows the world's best hazelnuts and combines them with chocolate to make gianduja and other treats.

Enjoy!

 

[explanade]

Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy has a Piedmont episode.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/...piedmont-itinerary-origseriesfilms/index.html

The only food that seemed interesting to me at least was the risotto place but it's so expensive.

Otherwise I'm not sure what the signature Piedmont dishes would be. I thought pesto came from there but it's from Genoa, which is the next province over.

I guess there are similar dishes that you find in other regions in the Alps like fondue.

 

[audreyh1]

That’s right, pesto is from Genoa.

They served green beans with pesto in Genoa.

We went on a wild car ride over the mountains from Turin to Genoa, part of our business trip. Local driving his Lancia.

I think I remember a lamb ragu served over wide noodles that was regional. It was excellent.

 

[euro]

I have spent a total of 8 weeks in the Piedmont region, 2 week visits annually from 2016-2019, participating in a music festival in Alba. There are local tourist offices that can set you up with a winery tour and other tours. The food is exquisite.

The Piedmont region of Italy has the most UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world. Grinzane Cavour Castle I’ve visited twice. On one clear day I could see the Matterhorn from the castle. There are multiple hilltop castles. Turin has 25 museums. What I enjoyed most in Turin was the Royal Palace and gardens. The first Sunday of the month they offer free entrance to several of the museums, including the palace and gardens.

I stayed in Alba, where the music festival occurs. There are musical offerings there year round. Alba is a medieval town built on top of Roman ruins, where the center is shaped like an octagon based on the Roman wall structure. There are places in the town where portions of the Roman ruins are exposed. They also have underground ruins tours twice a month, conducted in Italian but you can get an English transcript/program of each tour. Alba is also the world headquarters of Farrero chocolate, the maker of Nutella. It is situated between the Barolo and Barbaresco wine regions. You can arrange a winery tour through the town tourist office. I arranged three winery tours myself; each one was different. Because we had 8 people on each tour, we paid about €60 each, and each time we also had lunch. The tours included a castle and/or old town visit in addition to the winery. There are wineries there that have been family owned for several centuries.

I took the local train into Turin and back. BTW, flying into Turin is easy. We were driven into Alba by small bus. Not much traffic once you left the city. It is much slower paced than the tourist capitals of Italy.

In the fall, Alba has a white truffle festival. But I only visited in the spring, so never experienced that. The themes of the region are: wine, slow food, truffles, music, hazelnuts, and chocolate.

I would have gone back for this year’s festival, but our group was excluded due to the refusal of our conductor to get a vaccine. (Grrrr).

Another issue is the Po River nearly dry.

Great summary! It’s definitely one of the best kept secrets of Italy. If you like both, mountains and coasts, then the Piedmont is for you! Gorgeous landscapes!

 

[kevink]

Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy has a Piedmont episode.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/...piedmont-itinerary-origseriesfilms/index.html

The only food that seemed interesting to me at least was the risotto place but it's so expensive.

Otherwise I'm not sure what the signature Piedmont dishes would be. I thought pesto came from there but it's from Genoa, which is the next province over.

I guess there are similar dishes that you find in other regions in the Alps like fondue.

Risotto is a specialty from Lombardy (Milan is the capital) but in Piedmont the first course (primi) specialty is the richest egg pasta in Italy, in two specific forms: agnolotti (a tortellini variant) and tajarin. Both are made with an egg-yolk-to-flour ratio that is mind-bogglingly rich (and thus served in small portions). Sugo de carne (the juices from delicious braised beef) or sage butter are the sauces for these. In season all are topped with white truffles, the best fungi on earth. Otherwise you'll have to "settle" for black summer truffles, porcini, etc.

Wide variety of secondi include beef braised in red wine and rosemary, many preparations of veal and chicken, salt cod (brandade) and many others. All washed down with Barolo and Barbaresco (2 of Italy's three greatest red wines - the third being Brunello de Montalcino), with dark chocolate hazelnut torte for dessert if you have room.

On our last visit we arrived having just been in the Burgundy region of France and the food in Piedmont was so far superior we realized we'd just make a beeline there from now on. Because of its location in Italy you get the best of French influences (indeed French is widely spoken there) along with the best from Genoa just over the hill from Piedmont and all of the riches of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna. The confluence of these things is why Piedmont has the most spectacular cuisine in Europe.

Meanwhile thanks to tourist TV shows and guides like Rick Steves the typical American tourist will spend all of their time in Rome, Florence and Venice, not even visiting the two regions of Italy (Emilia Romagna and Piedmont) with the best food and drink.