massimop

I recall you are going to either the cheese or the truffle fair, yes? Do you have (or want) any other planned activities -- like a wine tour? Do you bike ride?

Do you have some "must-do" restaurants? (You sort of need to pace yourself if you are going there with a list of places to eat, not try to pack in 4 must-do restaurants & a cheese fair in 3 days)

maitaitom

I think a Truffle Hunt sounds kind of fun...only 90 minutes.

Tracy has been talking about a cooking class (not an all day one). Maybe I can learn how to make pasta.

We are staying at a winery in La Morra where a tour of their facility is part of the lodging, but would be open to a tour taking us around to a few wineries (drinking and driving is not going to work).

I believe my bicycling days are long gone, however, and my main goal on these trips is to stay out of the hospital.

If you've ever seen one of my trip reports, relaxing is not my forte, however I did promise the crew we could slow down a bit in this region. Just wondering if four nights is going to be one too many for me. Oh well, in reality it's just a first world problem that really doesn't have a wrong answer. I'm sure I'll endure the hardship of drinking too much vino

kawh

we were in this area last year. we loved torino... make sure to have a bicerin (the two we had were divine) and one of our favorite meals over many, many trips to italy was at Ristorante Galante. (they are tiny and will appreciate if you speak at least a few words of Italian.) It is oddly located very near the train station.

From torino, it is easy to get to Pres Saint Didier, if you are into thermal water. Lovely views of the snow-covered mountains from there.

If you have a car, we really enjoyed going to Parco Nationale Paradiso. A beautiful drive up... any kind of hiking from strolling to glacier climbing. We were there in June and it snowed one night, after 2 days of hot weather. Magical way to wake up... and the roads were cleared by 9am.

john183

We spent 4 nights in the Piedmont region in 2012 but one of the days we did a really long day trip to the Cinque Terra. We loved the area and especially the people - everyone was unbelievably friendly. Rather than trying to repeat it all here you can scroll down to the June 19th entry in my trip report (which is not nearly as entertaining as any of yours) for the start of our time in Piedmont.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nque-terre.cfm

Here are a couple of clips about Natale and Giorgio who we had a fun time with before, during and after our truffle hunt.

https://dreamofitaly.com/tv-show/piedmontlake-iseo/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/truffles...rant-delicacy/

Leely2

Sorry to hijack, maitai. I have a question for kawh.

kawh, was the driving to Parco Nationale Paradiso really windy with sheer drops? This area has been on my radar for a while. I love hiking and beautiful natural areas, but have to plan carefully (i.e., bring a driver) for super curvy, mountainous roads.

Met some lovely people from Torino this summer while I was in the Dolomiti.

kawh

Leely2 - perhaps we were lucky, but there was very little wind during our whole 4 days there. Yes, there are sheer drops, but the road is really good and there's so little traffic that you can drive as slowly as you like. The park is fabulous and you will see Ibex everywhere. As I said... I was petrified to drive down in 6 inches of snow and the hotel owner laughed at me.... we got on the road (it was still snowing) and it felt completely safe. Not scary at all! You can read our report from last year if you click on my name. Hope that helps.k.

massimop

MaiTaiTom,

You might leave your agenda open for a seafood lunch on the Italian Riviera if you get a beautiful day. For me, driving to le Cinque Terre would be too far, and I would instead suggest a morning in Albenga to see the medieval town & mosaics, followed by lunch at Muraglia in Varigotti if you want something extra special & it's open that day, or you can just eat in Albenga which has several lovely low-key restaurants.

Something else you might look into if it is not beach weather is visiting one or two of Piemonte's historic synagogues. I don't know much about it, but I've been told (?) Jewish immigration into Piemonte started with Spanish inquisition, when Jews fled to Genova among other places. However, there was much more civil protection & economic opportunity in the mostly-French controlled Piemonte, so many families migrated north. The synagogues built -- including the extraordinary Mole Antonelliana in Torino -- and a few scattered north of the Barolo vineyards -- are some of the most decorate in Italy, since the area was one of great wealth. After the European wars, more & more Jews left Italy, so I don't know if the synagogues are used today.

As you probably already know, the Mole Antonelliana is now the national cinema museum of Italy, which I can't help but think you would adore. If possible, go on a clear day & take the glass elevator to the top of the cupola for a great view of the Alps.

I think driving to the val d'Aosta is too far for a day trip from Piemonte.

http://www.piemonteitalia.eu/en/gest...-piemonte.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synago...ale_Monferrato

Finally, if you are a movie fan, you could consider a pilgrimage to the pretty historic town of Saluzzo on a clear day to take a look at what is controversially claimed to be the original inspiration for the Paramount movie logo, supposedly drawn by an Italian immigrant to Hollywood who worked for the studio.

http://www.italythisway.com/places/saluzzo.php

https://www.patatofriendly.com/en/wh...nd-savigliano/

massimop

Leely2,

Most roads in the val d'Aosta are river valley roads and it is very easy to avoid elevation. The two roads you want to avoid are the Grand and Little Saint Bernard roads. The val d'Aosta is not notoriously windy, but one way to determine what parts of the region might tend to be windy is to do a google search for "paragliding val d'Aosta".

massimop

also, Maitaitom, if I were looking to spend time learning in a kitchen in Piemonte, I would learn to make hazelnut cake. It's fabulous, and you can buy hazelnuts in vacuum packs to take home. They are not heavy. Even if you don't learn to make hazelnut cake, eat & buy some hazelnuts. Healthy!

by the way, I'm not encouraging you to linger in the Piemonte countryside. If you want to simply swing through, on your way to elsewhere, I've done it many times & not felt a need to stay longer. Just giving you options you might not have considered.

maitaitom

Thanks everyone...

John, that was a terrific report. Glad the car didn't roll off the hill. I'm into the Truffle Hunt now.

massimop - Italian Riviera might work, especially if we keep it at 4 nights...thanks.

kawh - We will be in Turino, too, so thanks for the suggestions.

Decisions. Decisions.

massimop

If you end up heading to the Italian Riviera for lunch, artichokes are wonderful that time of year. Also, around Piemonte & Liguria, they have an exceptionally large pear called "Abate" which is simply delicious. A pear, some cheese, some hazlenuts & red wine -- all from Piemonte -- for me beats truffles.

One other tip: Don't eat truffles for dinner the night before you eat a seafood lunch in the Italian Riviera. The taste of truffles stays overpowering for quite a long time, and you'll barely taste the seafood.

Leely2

Thanks for those who advised on roads to/in Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso, very helpful info. Would love to hike there. I meant winding not windy--typing on my phone, mea culpa!

massimop

Leely2,

You can reach the gateway to the Gran Paradiso without driving there. If you start out from Aosta (reachable by train & and which is a great place to spend the night and visit), you can a bus to Cogne, the main lots-of-hotels town near to the Gran Paradiso, or you can switch to another bus for the very short ride to Valnontey, a tiny hamlet with a few b&bs that is right at the trailheads of the main hiking paths of the Gran Paradiso.

No doubt there is access to the park on its southern side, and since I have never been that way, it's possible there are rural mountain roads you'd rather not drive.

Also bear in mind that while the Gran Paradiso is indeed a beautiful park, all of the val d'Aosta is primarily unspoiled, with stunning walks through meadows amid towering mountains. The valleys of Planeval, Rhems-Notre-Dame, Ollomont are scarcely inhabited but for the cows & some sweet b&bs. One or two towns (like La Thuile) are ski resorts, and the clsoer you get to the Matterhorn, the more you will find tourist infrustructure, but it is very easy to find abundantly beautiful natural surroundings outside the actual park (which used to be a iron mine until Italy lost its steel industry, so they turned it into a park).

Leely2

Great information, thank you!

john183

I don't know if you have come across davetroy's report but he has excellent descriptions of his time in the Piedmont region in 2015 (much better than my feeble attempt). His entire report is well worth reading but the Piedmont portion starts with his July 16th entry. Maybe you can get some ideas from his report to help with those pesky decisions. HA!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-piedmont.cfm

maitaitom

Thanks John...I'll looks at that, but I thought your report was terrific!

maitaitom

John, Was the name of the truffle hunt place La Casa del Trifulau. It looks like it runs at 10:30 and costs $54. Is that correct? Thanks/

kawh

LEELE 2
I don't believe it was windy when we drove up to the park (June of 2017) . I am not the most relaxed passenger (my husband would use stronger terms) and it wasn't really that bad. Yes, very winding road, but I never felt frightened of the dropoffs. Also, the day we drove home, it SNOWED! We had hiked in beautiful weather for 2 days and then boom! Maybe a foot on a June day!! The lodge owner laughed at my nervousness about the drive down... and shockingly, it was a gorgeous and easy drive down in the snow!! They had absolutely cleared the road down by 10AM and, though it was snowing lightly, we just took it slow. The road sort of ends at the park, so the traffic was so light, we could go as slowly as we liked. Beautiful area with some neat animals !

steffanhayden22

In my opinion Neive is good place in Piemonte towns because it is famous for its wine producing region. And it has a handful of good restaurants where visitors can eat.

john183

Tom, Sorry I just got home from our annual family beach week and absolutely nothing productive (unless you count massive alcohol consumption as productive) gets done while we are at the beach. Yes the place we went was La Casa del Trifulau. We were staying near Asti and the owner of the B&B we stayed at made our reservation for us so I actually was not aware it was called La Casa del Trifulau - I just plugged in the address on our GPS. But like I said above we had a fun time and I'm sure you will too. I just went back and looked at our pics and it brought back all the good memories of Natalie, Giorgio, Brio and Bella. Can't wait to read about your adventures in the Piemonte - they will be memorable.