dtorps

My wife and I have 1 night to kill before heading to Portofino. Looking for suggestions of a countryside winery, or town, where we can spend a night. We have been to Florence and really enjoyed the region and all it has to offer. Looking for something similar. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We will be there in August and not sure if we're renting a car or taking the train.

yorkshire

Check out Asti.

gailscout

We enjoyed Lucca - staying within the walls and riding a bike on the wall in the evening. WIll never forget it. Hotels often have bikes to use.

dwdvagamundo

Second gailscout: Lucca.

HappyTrvlr

Are you spending a few nights in Milan? If not, I recommend seeing Milan, The Last Supper, Duomo, La Scala.
We drove directly to Santa Margherita Ligure, which is adjacent to Portofino, when we landed in Milan on an international flight, not a bad drive.

dtorps

Thank you for the Lucca idea but it might be out of the way? We plan on spending some time in Milan on our way back from Portofino.

HappyTrvlr

Lucia is south of Portofino so not on the way. Asti looks like a good choice or a village nearby.

yorkshire

Asti is also on the train line if you decide to skip a car. I selected Asti because it was an easy hop from Milan upon my arrival. I liked Alba even better, and it was an easy transfer from Asti. With a car, the area offers a wealth of rural spots.

dtorps

So we've decided to rent a car and drive from Malpensa airport to Rapallo, thought we were staying in Portofino but its actually Rapallo. Our flight arrives in Milan at 2pm local time. Any recommendations on a town to stop in for the night along our way? We would like to stay at a B&B in a rural town. Thanks, Dan.

yorkshire

Can you let us know what you have considered and ruled out already?

Dickie_Gr

Alba is a little further and is a centre of the slow food movement.

dtorps

The only things we've ruled out is a big city and driving past Rapallo, so having to back track the day we're supposed to be in Rapallo. Thanks!

yorkshire

Alba and Asti have lots of fans here. I passed through Neive and wanted to go back.

dtorps

thanks again for the suggestions. I am going to research each of the towns listed above, Dan.

stevewith

If you are arriving from a transatlantic flight at 2pm in the afternoon, and not hitting the road until you've picked up the rental car, I think you will not want to drive very far.

I suggest that you drive 35 minutes north of Malpensa to the lakeside town of Arona.

Or, if you think you can do 90 minutes, head for Moncalvo. The b&b Il Melangrano is very nice but read reviews

http://www.lalocandadelmelograno.it/inglese/pag00.htm

Moncalvo is a particularly well preserved medieval town

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17147149

dtorps

stevewith - we will be arriving on a 2 hour flight from Istanbul so we should be in good shape. Moncalvo sounds interesting. Thanks for the advice. Dan.