pknaster

Hello,
Once again I need help from fellow travelers. I will be driving from Turin to Lavanto at the end of September, and would like to map the route to experience Piedmont region. I know it is a long drive; little over 2 hrs. non-stop.
From my research I would like to stop at the following spots: Cherasco (snails), Langhe, Alba, Neive, Nizza Montferrato, Acqui Terme. This route non-stop is 4 hrs, 40 min. We do plan on leaving early from Turin and arriving late to Levanto.
Please help with figuring out where it is worth stop and where it is not. I would like to experience food, wine (DH is driving), quaint towns, castles and of course markets.
Thank you in advance,
PK

sandralist

It is not easy to drive quickly on the roads of Piemonte. They are very winding and twisting. So you probably can't see all your stops in one day. The road entering Levanto is very steep and winding. You certainly want to get there before dark. If you have picked up your car the night before in Torino then you can leave Torino before 9am. But if you need to go to a rental office that morning first, then you probably won't be on the road any sooner than 9am at the earliest.

If you plan on visiting any wineries, you need to make appointments, and wine tastings themselves take time. Markets only happen once a week in most towns, and only in the mornings, so you would need to research whether any are open on the morning you plan to leave Torino.

The snails of Cherasco are served in restaurants, so you could go there for lunch. But it is also famous for its chocolate shops and bakeries, and since it is not very far from Torino, maybe you could go there in the morning and visit the bakeries and have some coffee, and then go to Alba to do some wine and cheese shopping and walk around, then head to Nieve for lunch.

After lunch, you might want to go straight to Acqui Terme and walk around and sightsee. You might have time to see Nizza Monferrato on your way there, but it is a 2 hour drive minimum from Acqui Terme to Levanto, so you really should be leaving Piemonte about 4.30pm at the latest.

You should have a "Plan B" because if it is raining that day in Piemonte or Liguria, you should just think about having a nice lunch somewhere and going to Levanto. It is hard to drive on the roads in Piemonte when they are wet and hard to driving in the tunnels along the coast when it rains.

sandralist

Sorry, meant to type "Neive" and also want to say if it ends up being very very rainy at that time, don't be afraid to cancel the car rental and take the train from Torino to Levanto instead. Normally it is nice weather and not too rainy at that time of year, but it can happen that there is a day or two of very bad rainstorms which make driving unsafe in that area and on the coast.

pknaster

Sandralist,
Thak you for you feed back. Unfortunately car rental offices are closed on Sun, which is our day in Torino (arriving Sat). I realized to late that I would have loved a night in Piedmont (we have a 4 day appt rental in Levanto).

sandralist

So that means you will be picking up the rental car Monday morning when the car rental offices open.

I would not worry too much about successfully completing a "wish list" in the Piemonte countryside. Piemonte wine is meant to be enjoyed with food, so the only really important thing is too make sure you give yourselves enough time to relax over lunch. Really give yourselves time for that because that is the essence of Piemonte. Since your husband won't be drinking, make sure you buy a nice bottle of Piemonte wine he can enjoy later in the apartment in Levanto.

But otherwise people enjoy seeing the vineyards. The castles are there to protect the vineyards, and most are not particularly interesting inside. Some of the small towns have interesting shops for buying wine, cheese or sweets, but if you miss one or two because you got a late start or hung around for dessert and coffee at lunch, it's not like you missed some big wow. Best to enjoy the drive and the lunch and get to Levanto in time to enjoy the sunset.

pknaster

Sandralist,
Great insights.
Any recommendation for places to stop for meals/breaks on route?
Thx