My wife and I are going on our first trip to Italy (yeah!!!) and have decided to focus on a couple areas in the north. The basic plan is to fly into Venice, stay there for a few days, and then travel to the Piedmont region for the remainder of our two weeks, flying out of Turin. Do people have suggestions on the best way to get from Venice to Turin? (Eurorail? Another plane flight?)

We'd also be happy to hear any suggestions re places to stay/things to do in Piedmont (which might also include a side trip to the Italian Riveria). My wife and I love to hike and we love wine, so the idea of spending 10 days or so in a region where we can hike in the Alps AND visit the vineyards around Barolo, Barbaresca, etc. - among the finest wines in the world, in our book - all with Turin right smack in the middle seems like a dream come true to us. In particular, any ideas on places to stay in that region, hopefully right in the middle of wine country and on the less than outrageously expensive side (we like rustic), would be much appreciated... along with suggestions of vineyards that non-Italian speakers like ourselves can visit and taste at.

Oh, and we're thinking of going in September, and currently looking for wine festivals and/or happenings in Piedmont that might help us figure out the best dates, if anyone has any information on that.

Thanks so much for your help!

Gordon and Emily

Plan on a day or two in Turin, Italy's most underrated big city. There's the Cinema Museum, a great Egyptian museum and incredible dining. They have the Chocopass, which is a lot of fun, and a lively cafe scene.

For dining into: In Turin, a great bargain is the 28 euro menu at Cera una Volta on Victor Emanuelle II. Great, reasonable wine list. It's a couple of blocks from Porto Nuova station. Run by a couple of brothers who know their stuff and have a great wine list.

A very fun and casual place is La Cantinella, just across the Po from the heart of the city. They specialize in an excellent chunk of beef that you cook on a sizzling soapstone brought tableside.

How far do into the mountains do you want to go?

I spent a weekend way up in Cogne in the Hotel Bellvue in July two years ago. It was hot as Hades in Turin and actually COOL in Cogne. Highly recommend this hotel on every level – accommodation, food, service, location. This village is charming

http://www.hotelbellevue.it/


Also, a visit to Aosta is recommended. Here are some websites of the area:

http://www.regione.vda.it/turismo/default_e.asp

http://www.promozione-italia.com/eng...ta-valley.html

Train is the best way to get to Turin from Venice. Many trains run daily and it takes about 5 hours. With some of them you will have to change in Milan.
If you want to stay out of Turin the best way to visit Piemonte is renting a car. If you do so you can find nice and not too expensive accomodations in Agriturismo (farm hotel).
There are many wine and food festivals in september. One that is very famous is "Douja d'Or" that, together with the "Sagra delle Sagre" takes place in Asti in September, the first is for wine and the second for food (last year was from 8 to 17 of september).
Some adresses:
for the train time table look at www.trenitalia.com
For accomodatione you can search on google for "agriturismo piemonte" and I suggest the areas of "Canavese", "Langhe", "Roero".
For info on festivals and wines try:
www.piemondo.it/index.html

To really see Piemonte wine country, you will probably want a car. that said, try to locate yourself in a town with easy non-driving access to great restaurants and wineries, so that you aren't drinking and driving. Wineries in Piemonte are very much geared to the retail tourist trade, so you won't find your lack of Italian a problem.

Since you have a hankering to see the Italian Riviera, you might consider picking up a car in Venice and driving to the Riviera, then to the southern Piemonte wine country, and turning in your car in Torino.

You could also accomplish this by taking a train from Venice to a scenic Riviera town near Genoa, like Camogli or Santa Margherita Ligure, then picking up a car near there (Genoa airport?) and driving into Piemonte.

Even though 2 weeks is a generous amount of time, you probably don't have time to hike in the Alps and do a Piemontese winery crawl, and do justice to both Venezia and Torino. The Alps are the most out of your way, although you might get a taste of them on a day trip from Torino.

I am less keen on Torino's Egyptian Museum than others, but think the Cinema museum is incredible, as are the historic monuments of Torino. Take a look at the website called ExtraTorino (it has an English version) for a very good review what to do and where to eat.

By the way, In between Venezia and Torino is the wine country of the Veneto, whose wines I happen to prefer, but that's just me. (I also prefer the food in Torino to anyplace else in Piemonte.)

PS: I meant to add that many people are very happy staying in or around La Morra and Barolo in Piemonte, but I've never stayed there so I can't comment.

Viajerisma,

I think you can take the train easily to Torino, and spend a couple of days exploring the city, which is a wonderful cultural and gastronomic stop on your holiday. From Torino, you can rent a car and venture into the Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato regions of Piedmont. These are main wine regions of Piedmont. In the Langhe, you can visit Alba, Barbaresco, and the different areas which comprise the Barolo region, including the town of Barolo itself. That area surrounding Alba predominatly grows Nebbiolo, used for the production of both Barbaresco and Barolo, as well as Nebbiolo DOC. In addition, you can visit Bra (which is the home of the Slow Food Movement), Saluzzo, Cherasco (chocolate).

Coming through to the Monferrato, you can visit Asti, which will be preparing for its Palio (historic horse race through town), the Douja d'Or/Sagra delle Sagre events which center on food and wine, and in Acqui Terme we will be celebrating the Proloco (Prodotti Locali) festival, which takes place in the city with all of the surrounding villages setting up stand and preparing local specialties.

In addition, September is the month of the Vendemmia. All the vineyards will be busy harvesting and crushing their grapes. Driving throught the countryside means getting slowed down by tractors loaded down - a pleasure if you are not in a rush. The weather is beautiful, we still keep our pool open during September, and eating outside still takes place many evenings.

There are literally dozens and dozens of smaller festival throughout Piedmont which take place in September, smaller ones which are just really attended by locals, like the apple fritter festival and the wild boar stew festival in two local small towns near us.

By the way, the Monferrato is known for its Barbera wines and for its Dolcetto. THere are hundreds of wineries within an hour of our place, and man, are we spoiled for choice.

Plus, Piedmont is known for the best food in Italy. (this point is often argued by other regions

I could go on and on, but in any event, I wish you alot of fun in your planning.

Good to see that you have prioritised your first Italian trip around food and wine - Piemonte being the number one place to visit for such things (OK so I am biased - I live here)...

As others hae said train is likely the best way to get between your two cities, and I echo the praise of Torino - an undiscovered gem.

Don't underestimate the size of Piedmont (Piemonte), so the idea of walking the Alps in the morning and visiting cantinas (wineries) in the afternoon is unlikely to happen. Consider splitting your time between mountains and the rolling hills of the vineyards. Check out the Gran Paradiso Alpine reserve (north of Turin) - we have some detailed Alpine information here - http://www.stayinpiedmont.com/pages/...0Piedmont.html
Also check out the website of Astesana - strada del vino http://www.astesana-stradadelvino.it/english/home.htm for some great driving routes through wine country.

Phil

Since all the resident Piedmont experts have posted so much information, not too much to add excpet to say I think (as another "resident expert&quot that I think you have made a good choice, Piedmont and NW Italy in general is a wonderful and relatively undertouristed part of Italy (except Liguira in summer and Cinque Terre all year. I live in Asti and I think its very central to all of the region, 30 minutes from Turin, in the middle of the wine country, about an hour to the Mediteranean by car or train, 2 hours Aosta and 90 minutes to Lake Maggiore and Orta, but other B&B's who have replied to this posting are also quite central.You can train to Turin from Venice and as others have said better to think about renting a car for touring to the mountains or wine country, the train service only serves major cities.

And September is a wonderful time to visit, sort of like Indian summer, wine harvest starts, the big Palio week festival in Asti, the Donkey Palio in Alba and the Slow Fod Cheese festiavl in Bra.

One of the best guide books for all of NW Italy in my opinion is the "Cadogan Guide to the Italian Riviera and Piedmont" which covers the whole region in detail.

Arvetsu

I am not a resident expert but did thoroughly enjoy our five days in Piemonte last June. I agree that Turin is completely underrated. We only did it in a daytrip, but really loved the city and hope to return some day.

We stayed at Baur B&B in Acqui Terme(www.baurbb.com) for our five nights and absolutely loved it. It is a small B&B with only two rooms and the most wonderful hosts!! With incredible breakfasts, perfectly charming rooms, and beautiful views you can not go wrong. Diana and Mischa will be happy to help you plan out your days activities whether it be a hike or exploring local wineries.

Bellacqui,
If you have the details of the fritter
and boar festival I would be most appreciative. Thank you.

Whilst waiting for a specific response from bellacqui you could check out this site that is a great resource for events in Italy - only Italian, but hey http://www.eventiesagre.it/cerca/cat...it/intit/rilib

Here is the link for the festivals, in addition to the one which provided:

http://www.piemondo.it/archivi/manif...regionali.php3

hi
Oreilly, you have inspired me with the Hotel Bellevue! i am trying to put together an itinerary for 4 adults in July. Ive had some helpful suggestions so far but this hotel has blown them out of the water. am flying from Dublin and thought arrive in Geneva, drive to Bellevue for 2 nioghts and on southwards to fly out of Milan or other suitable airport. Barolo is a must (serious foodies and wine lovers). any tips, sights, or general info would be greatly appreciated