PurpleNeon

My husband and I have 3 nights to plan. We were originally planning to spend then in the Lake Como area however, my husband's favourite wine shop owner has filled his mind with tales of Barolo so now "we" are thinking Piedmont.

We are spending 2 weeks in Italy - a week in a Villa outside of Siena with friends, then these three blank nights followed by 2 nights in Venice and 2 nights in Rome before heading for home.

This is our third trip to Italy. In general we would prefer to park ourselves in the same place for the 3 nights and both explore wherever we are plus take day trips. We will have a car and we have driven in Italy before.

My initial thought is a medium-sized city/town of some sort - since we will be having a week of a rural experience and then 4 nights of being in fairly busy places. We are foodies and wine-ies - so we like to be able to have a variety of good places to choose from for dinners.

However, I'm open and interested in suggestions that may not be as I have descrbed above. We're fairly spontaneous travelers except that I like to have accomodations booked before we get there.

In summary, my question is: where in Piedmont would you stay for 3 nights? Hotel/B&B suggestions are also appreciated.

A supplementary question would be - what do you suggest doing in the area while we are there? Our wine shop friends have offered to organize some winery tours/tasting - have you been anywhere that you would particularly recommend?

Thank you for your help! Grazie!

zeppole

If your head is filled with tales of Barolo, then you should stay in the area where Barolo is produced -- not in Asti and not in Acqua Terme, which are popular internet-poster fueled destiantions. You probably want to stay in Alba, but you should read up the the Langhe district of Piemonte to see if something else appeals to you.

What I'm really here to say is that, were it me, I would strongly consider dropping off my car in either Torino or Genova airport and flying to Rome.

Zerlina

Alba would suit your requirements: medium-sized, in Barolo country, great restaurants in Alba itself and the surrounding area.

PurpleNeon

Thanks for the information. Any hotel/B&B advice for Alba?

zeppole - we are actually off to Venice after this potential Piedmont visit. My current thought is to drive to Venice and drop the car off there, spend the 2 days in Venice and then train to Rome to finish the trip off.

ekscrunchy

I returned last night from a week split between the Alba/Barbaresco area and Torino. I recommend this B&B just outside the small city of Alba where we spent 4 nights. It is a quick drive into Alba from the B&B and there is also a walking path to town. The charming owner is fluent in English and more than willing to give advice on eating and touring.

http://www.villalafavorita.it/home_uk.html



If for some reason, La Favorita does not suit, or is booked on your dates, I can assure you that there are dozens upon dozens of inviting looking small lodgings in the area at all price ranges. Your first choice might depend, after price considerations, on the availability of the owner to advise you on where to eat and the winery visits. But you can, of course, arrange all of this from home. If you do not need an English-speaking owner, or staff, you can stay inexpensively at one of the many agriturismi.

The region is small and the roads are excellent and well signed.

For example, this agriturismo in the tiny hamlet of Verduno, where we ate dinner, is connected to the Castello di Verduno winery: prices are reasonable.

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






Another factor in the choice of where to stay is whether or not you want to be in or close to Alba, or another larger town (Cherasco, etc) out in the countryside. If you want to be in the countryside, but within a few minutes drive of restaurants, let me know and I will give details of the other place we stayed in the region.



I have a lot of info on food and wine that I will post when I get settled at home. Having just spent a week in the Piedmont, I will say now that this is certainly among the top gastronomical regions of the country. And the wine..oh, the wine!!! But then, you did not need me to tell you that!

Yes, you should ask your wine shop to arrange tours for you, as you will need to book ahead and not all wineries allow visits from those not in the trade.

ekscrunchy

I forgot to say that, since your departure is imminent, please feel free to ask questions. I would recommend booking not only the B&B/hotel, but also a few of the restaurants ahead of time if you plan to eat at any of the "big" names or if your visit will span a weekend.

One place I heartily recommend, and where you will need to book, is Trattoria della Posta outside Monforte. You can book by e-mail:

http://www.trattoriadellaposta.it/english/history.htm


Again, please feel free to pepper me with questions regarding food and wine in the region!

And if you do not manage to book ahead, do not despair, as my guess is that it would be VERY difficult to find a bad restaurant in this area!

JulieVikmanis

Purple Neon, Hope it's ok if I ask my questions on this thread since I assume that they may overlap with some of yours.

About La Favorita, Is there a lot of uphill walking involved with the placement of the hotel? From car park to entrance? Also I assume there is no elevator. Are there any rooms on ground or first floor? How many flights to the topmost rooms?

Based on my assumptions that I might not like the answers to the climbing aspects of La Favorita, I check about a gazillion other places and got interested in two. One is La Corte Albertina, with 25 rooms in a working winery in Pollenzo which is about 13 km west of Alba toward Bra, and the other is Ca' de Lupo, in Montelupo Albese, a very modern place about 13 km south of Alba. Any chance you saw either the places or the towns and can give me a bit of helpful info?

Did you actually stay in Torino? If so where? We have tentatively planned 5 days in Piemonte and thinking to spend them all in one place near Alba with day trips. Would you advise instead to split it 2 Turin and 3 Alba? or just an overnight in Turin and 4 Alba?

I've been planning to see Eataly enroute from Como to Alba, thus spending one afternoon there and having lunch, possibly also an early dinner. That would mean either skipping the rest of Turin entirely or making it a day trip return visit. This is another way of asking the same question as above. Is Eataly/Turin of sufficient interest to change to a 2/3 or 1/4 plan from our currently planned 5 days in Alba with day trips.

Thanks, Eks, for any guidance and thanks Purple Neon, for letting me use this thread rather than running two of them about roughly the same topic.

JulieVikmanis

Eks, you mention Trattoria della Posta in Monforte d"alba. I have also noted the Villa Beccaris in that town. Did you happen to see it? Was the town itself a worthy place to stay? It's not as central, but the villa looks lovely.

shormk2

Bookmarking.

PurpleNeon

Ask away! Sorry for not getting back to this thread - I've been out of town for work.

Thank you to everyone so far for all of the great advice. EKS - your descriptions are making me want to go ASAP! It definitely sounds like our kind of place. I will likely be asking you more questions as I start to plan this aspect of our trip - everything else is booked now except these 3 nights.

Thanks so much!