Hello Friends,

My husband and I will be in Italy for 8 nights in mid-September, its a last minute trip so I'm scrambling to choose an itinerary - so many options! We would like to split our time between 2 destinations and Piemonte has been on our list for awhile, we like smaller towns as a base and Alba looks right up our alley.

My question is, if flying in from the US, is it a terribly long day to get a rental car and drive directly to Alba upon landing, or would a night in Milan be recommended? Same goes for departure - are there international airports (Turin? Milan?) we can fly out of after staying the night in Alba, or is an overnight pre-departure a must?

Thanks in advance!
Best,
A

Alba is 1:50 driving time from Milano-Malpensa, 1:40 from Milano-Linate and 1:20 from Torino, so it is roughly the same into which airport you fly.

If you fly into Milano, you need about an hour to travel into the city centre and the next day, you need more time to drive from the city centre to Alba than driving directly from the airport, whichever you will fly into.

So, timewise, staying overnight in Milano does not make too much sense. However, Milano is a beautiful city, with a spectacular cathedral (walk the roof), Leonardo's Last Supper and fascinating shopping streets (it is Europe's fashion capital).

I think all of those driving times are a little optimistic. Unfamiliar roads, different language, fatigue... you're just bound to drive a little slower than a computer program considers possible.

You mentioned splitting your time in two destinations. If Alba is one, what is the other?

Could you fly in and out of Torino?

Thank you both, good food for thought!

@Jean - Yes, I can fly in/out of Torino (my husband will be coming up from Rome to meet me, he will have been there on business), or book an open jaw depending on our second destination. In the running - the Ligurian Coast, Venice, Emilia Romagna.

We love Venice, and it would be an easy end to the trip due to airport proximity. We've spent time in the CT, and didn't fall in love, but we are willing to give other destinations on the Ligurian Coast a chance as we've heard great things about SML and Rapallo. As for Emilia Romagna, this culinary capital has been on our list for quite some time, I just don't know if we have enough time to do it justice.

I just cannot imagine (or recommend driving) after an overnight flight. Because it is so easy to get to Alba via train, and easy to get back to Milan (and I believe from Torino as well), I would consider getting the rental in Alba or Asti, and it should be no trouble to return at the airport. Actually, to shorten our journey, we spent a night in Asti and then went on to Alba the next day.
We combined our Piemonte stay with a five-day stay near Camogli. We prefer the sea so it was a great combo for us, but we considered staying in Aosta and Torino as well. good luck!

Unless you are interested in fashion,I'd fly to Torino and spend the night there. Torino is much nicer than Milano if you just want to do some sightseeing, it's a wonderful small city full of history. It's a shame to just spend there one night.

Take a taxi from the airport if you stay downtown because Torino has a very strict no-traffic zone (ZTL). Get the car the next day. My favourite hotel is the
Principi di Piemonte.

If you like the mountains, Courmayeur is very nice and quite close by car. There is a wonderful new cable car called Skyway Monte Bianco.

You can get to Alba by train, but it would be a long slog 4+ hours from Malpensa with 3 changes and the last one is a bus. I don't think there are car rental offices in either Asti or Alba. Perhaps Alessandria?

Much easier IMO to fly into Torino (although I'm not sure your husband could), spend the night, and head off to Alba the next day. But now you're down to 7 nights, so look at your flight options for flying home. If it's an early flight or far from wherever you are, you might have to lose another night positioning yourselves closer to that airport. If so, you don't have a lot of time for exploring both Piemonte and another area.

BTW, the new cable car mentioned by Ticino looks wonderful. The drive to Courmayeur is nice.

Thanks All!

Jean - we have come to the same conclusion - with only 8 nights to begin with, and the need to stay a night in Milan or Turin on both ends, Piemonte just isn't in the cards for this trip. Sigh.

We are back to the itinerary drawing board, it's so hard to pick from so many wonderful options. Leaning towards:

1) 4 nights Tuscany (base in Chianti, fly into Florence), 4 nights Emilia Romagna (base tbd, fly out of Bologna)
2) 5 nights Tuscany OR Emilia Romagna, 3 nights Venice

"...and the need to stay a night in Milan or Turin on both ends..."

I wouldn't look at that as a negative, but that's me. I like both Turin and Milan. But it's your trip, so you get to decide.