ekscrunchy

topping for recent poster

ekscrunchy

topping for dac and others headed to Piemonte..

ekscrunchy

For those interested in Piemontese wines, today's New York Times has an article on Barolo:


http://tinyurl.com/ahrehf

ekscrunchy

Here is our itinerary for next month:

4 nights Alba--Villa La Favorita
1 night La Morra--Marcarini (wine estate)
2 nights Turin--GH Sitea

Question: We have 2 options for returning to Malpensa from Turin: Driving or taking the bus.

If we take the bus, we can drop the car in Turin.

The bus option forces us to leave Turin at 7am for a noon flight. This gets us to the airport at 9am--too early for a noon flight.

Can anyone give me an idea of how difficult the drive from central Turin to Malpensa might be on a Sunday morning? (It takes about 2 hours)

liberosette

On Sunday morning you won't have any problem. There is also a new road (opened last year) from autoroute A4 TO-MI (Turin-Milan) directly to Malpensa airport that has shortened the trip.

ekscrunchy

Thanks so much!

We are not so skilled at European driving so I am glad to read that the road is good...should I still figure 2 hours from central Turin to Malpensa?

liberosette

Maybe something less than 2 hours. On sunday morning city traffic is very light, from your hotel in central Turin you must reach Corso Glulio Cesare (a large and fast street) and then go straight on until the tollgate of A4 direction Milan, it's very easy. About 30 km before Milan, you will find the exit of Marcallo from which the new road to Malpensa begins, and in 30 minutes you will stay into the airport.
Are you going to come in Easter week?

Maurizio - Italy

Agriturismo_Verdita

If you have a day of bad weather, it's a good option to visit the spa in Acqui Terme (it's also a good option when the weather is good, but I can imagine that you have too much things to see ...)
The city itself is small but adorable. Everything is renovated and the color of the houses are really inviting !

ekscrunchy

Mauruzio: No, after Easter. Mille grazie for the information!!

Agri: If the weather is really poor, I might have to take the drive to the outlet mall at Serravalle--they say it is the largest in Europe!



http://www.mcarthurglen.it/serravalle/about/concept.php

montysc

The drive from Torino to MXP would be pretty easy as you have been told, but I might not want the car at all in Torino, and being at MXP 3hrs ahead of time isn't all that bad, and by taking a bus I would be a bit more relaxed...Whether you leave at 8AM or 7AM you will need time to gas the car, drop it at the rental counter etc...

You trip looks great - have a great time...

We won't be able to get back to Italy until about Sept 2010 due to a new baby due this June...so I will be looking for reports from everyone to keep our mind on other things.

ekscrunchy

Monty: Congratulations on the good news!

You are correct about the anxiety factor. But driving is so much easier than taxiing to the bus stop, taking the early bus, etc. The drop-off at Malpensa is really easy.

I have to find out how much the hotel will charge for two nights parking; that might help me make my mind up!



Thanks for all of your input in planning this trip!


Also, if you have time, let me know if you have any eating suggestions around Alba--I will bring up the appropriate thread right now.

montysc

Most of the places we wanted to eat at in Alba proper were closed the nights we had available - so we winged it one night and had a great meal. Our memorable meal was just down hill from La Morra at L'osteria Del Vignaiolo (this was a recommendation from Roberta). Lunch in Barbaresco

One place we looked into was "Da Guido" or Guido da Costigliole , which was recommended by our local wine importer - we didn't make it, but hope to in the future. There is also a more sophisticated Guido Restaurant at the University of Gastronomic Sciences campus.

montysc

Lunch in Barbaresco would be at Antica Torre trattoria...