LA MORRA VERSUS ASTI
 

I am going to Piedmont for the first time and have looked at accommodations in La Morra. Now I'm wondering whether to consider Asti instead (looking at Locanda Martelletti in Asti, cheaper, looks nice and there is a restaurant). I would appreciate any comments/info.

Hard to compare. La Morra is a small village in the heart of vinyards and hills while Asti is a small city of perhaps 40,000 people.

La Morra is a beautiful village with views of the vine covered hills beyond. I think the crucial element here is whether or not you will have a car. You might also consider Alba. If you are in a city--Alba or Asti--you do not need a hotel with restaurant attached.

You might also consider the agriturismo in Verduno, Ca de Re.

The village is small and charming and the food is wonderful and inexpensive. We had dinner here last spring and I would have no hesitation to stay a few days. Double rooms with breakfast cost 70 euro; singles are 60 euro; they also rent full apartments by the week, or by the day:

http://www.castellodiverduno.com/ita...griturismo.asp

I took a look at Marteletti and it certainly looks lovely, but it is not in the city of Asti but, instead, in a small village nearby. I think that your choice depends on what your objectives will be. You will be closer to the main wine areas if you base yourself in or nearer to Alba in the Langhe area.

I debated quite a bit about where to base myself on my first trip to the region; I will try to find the thread and link it here.

There are SO many compelling places to stay--for example, this hotel in the center of Alba:


http://www.palazzofinati.it/welcome_eng.lasso

This B&B where we spent 4 nights, outside Alba (car recommended):


http://www.villalafavorita.it/

eks--without a car would you stay in Asti or Alba? Where's the better food? How would you divide 9 days between Torino and either Asti/Alba?

M: I did not visit Asti. As first timers who did not want to drive very far after dinners, we were advised to base ourselves in Le Langhe and I think we made the right choice. We had only a week total, so did 5 days in Le Langhe, at two different properties, and then had two nights in Turin.

If I did the trip over again, with the extra two days as you have, I might allow three days for Turin. This would allow you to visit the Egyptian Museum and dip into the countryside to visit some of the palaces/villas.


Saluzzo might be an interesting day trip, or stopover en route from Alba to Turin; I wish we had had time to visit that town, and perhaps stay overnight:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...to-saluzzo.cfm





I had originally thought of including the Aqui Terme region; you might look into adding that since you ahve extra time.

*****An important question to ask yourself when planning a trip to this area is : How much time do you want to spend touring wineries and wine tasting? Let me know the answer to this and I can be more helpful...


We had exceptional food, although we did not visit close to all of the places I had on my list.

See this thread for more details on that subject:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-shopping.cfm

Yikes..I forgot that you said "without a car."

You could do fine in Alba with no car; you can avail yourself of the tours given by the local tourist office..I think I linked those on another thread for you..

So without a car, forget what I wrote above. Perhaps 4 days in Turin, so you could more fully explore the city and do the daytrips to the palaces/villas, and to Saluzzo... And then 3 in Alba. (???)

What will be your entry/departure points into the region?

Thanks, eks. The plan is to fly from Napoli to Torino, after a week or so in Napoli, and then 7-9 days later take the train from Torino to Florence for a week of meetings (and then tack on a week in Paris because it's so cheap to fly from Pisa to Paris.) So I think we should head straight to Alba and finish in Torino since the train connections to Florence are better from Torino. Thoughts?

How strong is your interest in wine?

We are exemplary wine drinkers. Over the years we've visited our share of wineries but we're much more interested in drinking the wine than visiting the vine. We want to drink good bottles with good food.

sjd,

I looked up Locanda Marteletti in Asti and see it has good reviews from Tripadvisor but also that the owners of the restaurant are Tuscan, and serve that cuisine as well Piemontese. Tuscan food which would not be my first choice while staying in Piemonte.

But I think staying at a place with a restaurant that serves home-coooked food and its own wines is a great idea. There are lots of choices listed in this article from the Guardian, with rooms under 100e per night. Some of these places are in the Langhe area if that is where you would prefer to be.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...nddrink.italy1

(Marija, there area also some restaurant recommendations for Alba in the article, if that is where you land. )

And here is another good article about touring Piemonte and eating well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...rants?page=all

This might be my choice for a Piemontese countryside stay, an agriturismo with rooms at 90e per night and a well-regarded traditional restaurant



http://www.mongalletto.com/index_e.htm

http://www.mongalletto.com/testi_e/camere.htm

http://www.mongalletto.com/testi_e/offerta.htm


http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Revi...-Piedmont.html

Marija: I asked because I wanted to get a feel for how interested you would be in touring wineries, which could eat up many days. I think that without doing much of that, if any, you could spend one day in Alba proper and two days doing daytrips. Or else a total of 3 days at one of the other properties suggested here. Think rolling hills and some very pretty villages focused largely on wine. Alba itself is small and can be covered in less than a full day on foot.

I think with the amount of time you have, you might think about adding one more destination.

Saluzzo? Even Aosta/Cogne? (Zeppole will know that last town from Fred Plotkin's book)