Just returned from over two weeks in Piedmont. We started out in Paris for 4 days – which was absolutely wonderful! Took the train from Paris to Turin and stayed there for 2 nights – at the Victoria Hotel. Had a wonderful birthday dinner at Del Cambio.

Rented a car and drove to Alba, where we stayed for 5 nights at a terrific agriturismo, La Meridiana Ca’ Reine, and we drove all over Piedmont visiting wonderful wine towns like Barolo, Barbaresco, Neive, Cuneo, and on and on. The food and wine of Piedmont are truly memorable.

We then drove to Gavi where we stayed at another fabulous hotel, L’Ostelliere, which has a great restaurant attached. From Gavi we visited more memorable wine towns and took the train into Genoa for the day.

We ended up in Milan for 2 days. We went to the opera at La Scala and saw “The Last Supper” – and developed a new appreciation for Milan, which I would re-visit in a New York minute. I’d love to share more details if anyone is interested.

Dona

we will be 4 nights in piedmont in early july. We also hope to spend a day in genoa on the way from CT to Piedmont. Any suggestions of highlights? We'll be staying at Villa La Favorita, which i think is next door to La Meridiana, correct? We don't want to eat fancy places that require reservations, would like to wander the towns and wineries of piedmont. Would love to hear your highlights! (our concern for genoa is being there in a car with luggage. not only do we have to find a place to park, but also check our luggage somewhere)

one more interest: Turin, as we hope to make a day trip there. We have heard of the "chocopass" at the tourist office that you can buy and take to various places for different types of chocolate baked goods, candy, hot chocolate. Also, to take the elevator to the top of that film museum/famous bldg (can't think of the name right now). other suggestions for day trip to Torino?

Hello Dona, I can imagine your trip was fantastic. Piedmont is paradise IMHO! The food and wine and scenery. I have yet to visit Turin for some reason, but it is on my list..that and Siena.

I too love Milan and always enjoy reading about other visitors that do too.

If you have time I would love to hear more about your time in Milan. Best wishes and I hope you get to return to Italy just as soon as possible.

Dona, Sounds like a heavenly trip to me. Along with many others I am sure, I would love to read any further details you care to discuss....this region is near the top of my travel list so anything about places to eat and particularly attractive and/or interesting towns would be welcome. Let us know how you snagged your La Scala tickets and what you saw there, too. How did you find Turin?

Thanks for posting!

Alison,

I think Villa La Favorita is very close to Ca' Reine. In fact, I found it online today and it looks wonderful. One tip - it took us an hour to find the hotel. Both inns are in Altavilla - this means the "high town" above Alba. When you come into Alba, you come over a bridge and can go straight which will bring you to Piazza Savona, or go left. If you go straight, you will be making a mistake but, don't worry - just make a u-turn around the piazza. When you come over the bridge, you will make a left onto the road that basically goes around Alba. Follow it around, past 2 (I think) traffic circles. Eventually, you will come to a traffic circle that has a wine glass of flowers (yes, that's right) in the center with an Agip gas station on the opposite side. Go around the circle and, with the Agip on your right, make a right up the hill. It took us hours to figure this out - I hope it helps you. (The map that Villa La Favorita has on the website looks like a very good map...)

Anyway, getting back to your questions, Alba is one of my favorite towns. It's lively and has a wonderful feel. and great gelato!!

Some of my favorite towns are La Morra, Neive (which is tiny but wonderful), Barbaresco (where you can smell the wine in the street), Barolo, Monforte D'Alba. There are some cute towns on the sea, Albisola Superiore, and Camoglie on the east side of Genoa - a really beautiful town with no cars and feels like the Cinque Terre. Cuneo is also an interesting town - with arcaded streets. We were not very impressed with Asti or Bra.

Rather than drive into Genoa, it was suggested to me that we take the train from Novi Ligure - it's only a 30 minute train ride and you can park your car at the station. (There did seem to be a lot of parking in Genoa, however, along the water near the acquarium. I think most of it is "parking lots" where your car should be safe...) We went to the acquarium in Genoa which was interesting. I liked Genoa, my friend was not as impressed. I really liked the juxtaposition of the old town and the new town above.

One day is a good amount of time for Turin. The Piazza san Carlo is truly the center of town and impressive. So, may I say, is the chocolate. We had gelato with a pitcher of hot fudge (cioccolato caldo) that we poured over the top - I can still taste it! We took the elevator to the top of the Mole Antonelliana. We waited 2 hours to get to the top since the elevator only takes about 9 people at a time - and there was an additional line to wait on even after you get inside the museum. The view is wonderful if you don't mind the wait. If you can live without it, I recommend the inside of the museum itself. It is a cinema museum with lots of interesting things - all very Italian, e.g., you get to watch films lying on a chaise lounge and one room has seats that are all toilet seats (strange, I know...). We never got out to the old Fiat factory which now is an interesting complex of hotels, stores, with a running track on the roof.

Hope this helps - let me know it you have other questions...

Dona

You asked about snagging the La Scala tickets - actually I got them online. Unfortunately, I can't find the website although try the La Scala website first. But my story is not wonderful. I live in New York and attend the Metropolitan Opera a lot. La Scala, although it has been recently refurbished, is built in the old European style with boxes all around. Unfortunately, if you're not sitting in the first 2 seats, you can barely see the state. They also have 4 simultaneous translation screens in each box. Also unfortunately, they are all across the front of the box and there is only room for 2 seats. We ended up leaving at the first intermission. I'm glad I went - it was exciting. And the clothes on the Milanese were fabulous (I hate to be shallow...) But for $100 per seat, it was an expensive evening to "hear" the opera. But I did come way with a fabulous appreciation of the Met!

Dona

I wanted to go to Piedmont because it is one of the few regions I hadn't been to. While the food and wine were FABULOUS, I was a bit disappointed in the scenery. The vineyards are beautiful - but right next door there are factories. This is great for Italy, since this area clearly is upscale, but not as great for the beauty of the landscape. I'm glad I went AND it will not be the first place I'll return to.

Alison mentioned Turin's cinema museum: it's the Mole Antonelliana. It's not to be missed on a clear day. I enjoyed the museum itself too -- but some friends gave it mixed reviews. It is very cool, however, to grab the reclining chairts in the atrium and watch snippets of great films on the big screens. Plus the international movie posters are wonderful.

You can't miss with the ChocoPass.

This is a world class food town. Our favorite traditional was Cera una Volta, very close to the Porto Nuova train station. A very fun and fairly casual place was La Cantinella across the Po from downtown, where the specialty was steak brought out raw, sliced and grilled tableside (by you) on a sizzling soapstone. Also get the octpus-potato starter -- amazing. We found good bicerin everywhere, but El Bicerin and Cafe Torino downtown were historic and special.

I have the photographs but not the names of restaurants up in the mountains of Piedmont..beautiful views and scenerly along with fantastic food and wines. Wish I had kept all my notes which I threw away just a few months before I discovered Fodors.

We are at Belvedere in La Morra, and Antica Corona Reale - da Renzo in Cervere, near Cuneo. Both were fantastic ( I have pictures of all the food) but both were expensive.

Dona, thanks so much for the piedmont info! We already have tickets for Lucia at La Scala as well as tix for the Last Supper. We will only have 1.5 days in Milan and one of them is a Monday when the museums are closed. So, plan to go to roof of Duomo and do some shopping, altho not much of a shopper. Really appreciate your taking the time to give those detailed directions for Alba -- i had already printed out the map to the hotel and will add your info!!

Dona... really enjoyed your report... since we've done essentially that same trip (ex Genoa). And I was especially happy to know that the Belvedere rest. is still there in La Morra.... one of our happiest memories. As far as LaScala... I totally agree. Tho we were fortunate to get the first two seats in a box I noticed those behind us left early. And....another agreement... as a long time Met regular I think we often take our riches for granted!

LaBellaDona,

Thanks for the report. We're planning a brief trip (4-5 nights) in Piedmont this fall for some winetasting. We've been only once previously and only for two nights-visiting Barbaresco, Alba, and Barolo. Any specific recommendations for wineries and restaurants? Any other towns not to be missed?

Many thanks!

I've only been to Torino in Piemonte, but I'd like to add a few things:

The name of the famous cafe mentioned previously is Caffe Il Bicerin, and it is not really "downtown" (although it is in the historic center) but in the Piazza della Consolata, which is probably the single most charming piazza in Torino.

The toilet seats in the Museo Nazionale del Cinema are in one of many screening rooms where one enters into the life of various genres of cinema. To watch clips from romance movies, one lays on a heart shaped bed and sees the scense from famous movies projected on the ceiling. In another room devoted to docudramas, there is a living room with two television sets: one shows actual documentary footage of things like the Kennedy assasination or the life of Ghandi while the other TV shows Oliver Stone's J.F.K. or Richard Attenborough's biopic Ghandi. One sits on toilet seats to watch clips from Surrealistic films made by Dali and Bunuel, etc.

Personally I think there is much more to Torino than can be enjoyed in a day. I think this a good website for an overview:

http://www.extratorino.it/ENG/index.php

Actually, if you're going to correct my post it's ``al Bicerin'' ...

Downtown might be a matter of degree, but according to Turin tourism officials anything inside Regina Margerita and VEII is downtown. The area, which includes parts of the historic center, isn't all that big so it seems a strange nit to pick.

LaBellaDona,

So happy you enjoyed your trip to our beautiful Piemonte!! I am not sure where you saw the factories near the vineyards. I can suggest for your next trip to come a bit closer to the Langhe Monferrato border and then into the Monferrato and you will be blown away by the beauty.

I am happy you took time to go to Gavi and think that the vineyards in that area are of a different character than those in the Langhe. Also the mountains of the Appinnine and the Alps ring the area so majestically.

Genoa is very underrated in general.

An interesting part of the Monferrato is the area which borders on the Langhe on one side and on Liguria on the other. The feel of Liguria mixes with the farmhouse countryside of PIemonte. the towns are quite lovely, like my own beloved Acqui Terme.

Diana

Sorry, repete, I wasn't trying to nitpick and I regret my typo. It is Al Bicerin. My only point in saying that the Piazza della Consolata is not downtown was to say it is not obviously close to the major attractions of the centro storico, but a bit removed.

LoriS,

You might want to consider the following towns/areas/wineries while planning your itinerary for Piedmont...I am focusing here more on the Monferrato than the Langhe but including some Langhe/Monferrato border areas:

Asti, Nizza Monferrato, Acqui Terme, the Bormida Valley, Bubbio, Dogliani, La Morra, Calamandrana, Canelli.

Monferrato Wineries: La Barbatella (Nizza Monferrato) Noceto Michelotti (Castel Boglione), Scarpa (NizzaMOnferrato), La Guardia (Ovada), La Scolca (Gavi), Viotti (Castel Rocchero), Ubaldo (Moirano), Araldica (Castel Boglione).

La Bella Donna,

thank you for your detailed report on your recent visit to Piedmont, although I am puzzled about where you saw vineyards next to factories, as most of the beautiful vineyards are in the hills, and although it is true that Piedmont has many small factories they are generally located in the valleys and close to towns. when I work my vineyard its so hard not to space out on the fantastic panoramic views of the hills, valleys and distant snow capped mountains!

For the lady who asked about places to visit and eat, go to Barberesco, its a small town with a wonderful view and don't miss the enoteca in the church, as well as the big Prodotore dei Barberesco Coop winery next to the tower, then take a drive up to Mango in the heart of the classic Moscato country, wonderful restaurant in the castle, as well as the Moscato enoteca, and you must try Moscato d'Asti, the cinderella sister of (n)Asti Spumante! From Mango you should take the drive down to Santa Stephano, its a spectactular drive down into the Belbo valley with terraced vineyards hanging on the cliffs (no factories here), you can bypass Santa Stephano, which although its a nice little town, is the centre of the Spumante industry (the factories here are wineries)and head up to nearby Canelli with it's "cathedrals of wine" huge tunnels carved for miles in the limestone hill where the wine is stored.

But there is so much to do! Oh BTW a chocopass entitles you to 48 hours public transport in Turin with a book of coupons for one chocolate from different chocolaterieres, but IMO its better to get a Turinocard if you stay in town, which entitles you to free entry into all galleries and museums as well as public transport. I have books of unused coupons from our guests, its hard to use them all, and better to find them as you go along.

Ciao and benvenuti