Lincasanova, it was your glowing review of Cascina Christiana that made me choose it! After reading your comments and checking out their website I decided it sounded like a great yet affordable place to stay.

Sampaguita, thank you again for the information about the Douja D'Or and the Palio. How long of a drive is it from Asti to Nizza Monferrato?

when you arrive, or ask for it now,if they are not full, the corner room is bigger, but the other room is also very nice.
the photos did not do it justice.

other places we have stayed have always been compared to cascina, and frankly.. have not yet come across another one as nice in this price range.

i can't wait to take my brother there if they make it over to italy soon!

we only had breakfast there once.. it was fine.. but nothing very outstanding as far as homemade things, etc.. but the owner's wife was out of town and i suspect he just laid the best spread he could!

(i don't know if he will remember the two couples from valencia spain.. american wives and spanish husbands...but if he does.. tell him hello!)

i hope the weather holds up for your trip. i can think of no better way to spend 4 days in the fall.

Hi GoingtoItalia,
I did post info about finding food spots, just on a different list by accident...(Duh). So if you search on equitraveler you will find it in a thread - europe.piemonte:excellent restaurant.

GTI, its only 30 minutes from Asti to Nizza then about another 10-15 minutes through town and over the back to CC, if I remember, I haven't been there since they were building it, but be careful at night after wine tasting at the Douja!

EquiT, I am lost as to where your link is to Piedmont restaurants, can you be more specific?

EquiT, I found it! Actually IMO, although Due Lanterne is a good restaurant (hard to find a bad one in Piedmont) I think La Rotonda is better, and I did live close to Nizza for 3 months.

Sampaguita
How does La Signora in Rosso compare to Due Laterne and La Rotonda. We tried to go last year, but they were in vacanza. We will be back in Fontanile in a week and a half and wonder if we should try again.

ET,

sorry I don't know of La Signora, there are so many fabulous restaurants in the area it hard to know them all. But if you are going to be in Fontanile, try I Caffi in Acqui Terme, its fantastic (the original is in Caffi, above Canelli, but they just opened a branch in AT.

BTW will you be in Fontanile town, or closer to Castelletto Molina? Your apartment is not by any chance Cascina Moleto?

Sam
We stay at Cascina Granica, which used to be called Cascina Mulino Vecchio by the prior owners. It is near Castelletto Molina, easy walking distance in fact and also about 1k from Fontanile. If you were coming from the Nizza-Acqui road and then took SP45a toward C. Molina, the turn off to La Granica is on the right just as SP45a turns left. Down the hill and left at the fork. The new owners, Mark and Karen, have done a wonderful job, adding a pool and 4 very nice B&B rooms.
Unless they warn us not to bother we will check out La Signora and let you know what we think.
Equi

Yes I do know the place, the old name was Molino Vechio as there used to be a mill there, it was one of the places we looked at when we first arrived in Piedmont, looking at the website they have fixed it up more or less as I would have done it. Enjoy your stay and look forward to hearing about La Signora.

La Signora in Rosso is one of our favorite places. Small serving sizes which remind us of tapas type restaurants...a labarynth of underground cantine with tables in every nook and cranny, fabulous wine selection. We enjoy it every time we go. The food is not anything special, it is more like homemade fare, but that is part of the charm...it is nothing fancy, just a plain old good time.

DD, where is Rosso? I can't find it, I assume its somewhere beteween Acqui and Nizza?

Sampi, it is directly in Nizza, on Via Crova, tucked in on one of the nice side streets behind the main Piazza. The website is www.signorainrosso.com

Aha, thanks DD, of course I know the place, just didn't remember the name, somehow I thought the poster meant La Signora restaurant in a town called Rosso (duh!). Great atmosphere, but I thought of it more as a wine bar. Anyway hard to go wrong with restaurants around this area.

You asked about road maps in Italy. I always use the Michelin Guide map book. I find it very accurate and detailed enough for my purposes - and it's the whole country so if I find myself in a place I hadn't planned on, I still have map. I also use the Michelin red guide as my bible for hotels and restaurants. And what I like about the Michelin map book is that it gees in to the many city maps in the red guide, i.e., tells you where you're coming into a city based on what major road you're taking, tells you the direction the street traffic (which has saved my hide more than once in Florence and Rome). And it is also crossed referenced to the Michelin green guide. I personally prefer the Eyewitness Guides as a guide book but if you use the Green Guide, it's crossed reference to the maps.

Alison: If you happen to see this, could you let me know, please, if you wrote any kind of report about your Piedmont trip. If so, can you find the link?

If not, would you mind giving me some impressions about your stay at Villa Favorita? Was the innnclose enough to walk into Alba for dinner?

Many thanks!!

Alison: I don't know how I missed your report..found it, thanks..

What a great thread!

We will be in the area in April so I found this information most helpful!

In looking at some side trips from the Alba area, I read a bit about Saluzzo--would this be a good stopover between Alba and Turin (we will have a rental car)?

We will have four nights in Alba (followed by three in Turin; I can add one night to Alba if recommended but our total will have to be only 7 nights) I was looking for a couple of short car excursions incase we need a break from all of the eating and drinking!

After spending a good bit of the afternoon reading about Saluzzo and Turin, I am now wondering if we should cut one night in Turin in order to add a night in Saluzzo..

Thoughts, anyone?