Five Days in Piedmont: Wine and Truffles

Morning

Start at the Museo Egizio, founded in 1824 around the Drovetti collection and devoted entirely to ancient Egypt, so book your entry ahead. Go first to the Gallery of the Kings, where the colossal statue of Seti II weighs about five tonnes, then to the Tomb of Kha and Merit and the long papyri. Do not try to see everything: a few rooms taken slowly are better than a march through all of them.

Afternoon

Walk to Piazza Castello, the stage of the Savoy city. Palazzo Madama stands in the middle, a medieval castle with a Baroque front by Juvarra, and the Royal Palace bounds the Piazzetta Reale behind it. Step into the Duomo beside the palace: it is the city's only Renaissance church and keeps the Shroud, in Turin since 1578 and shown to the faithful only at major ostensions. The Roman theatre sits next door.

Evening

Follow Via Po under the arcades toward Piazza Vittorio Veneto, and turn off to the Mole Antonelliana, which began as a synagogue and became the city's emblem. Its glass-walled panoramic lift rises to the Tempietto for the view of Turin with the Alps behind, and the building houses the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. Then take a vermouth: Antonio Benedetto Carpano started selling it here in 1786, near the Royal Palace.

Where to eat. Coffee at Mulassano on Piazza Castello, a small room credited with the Turin tramezzino, the soft triangular sandwich. Baratti & Milano, in the Galleria Subalpina, is the place for Art Nouveau interiors and hot chocolate. At dinner, order the Piedmontese ravioli del plin.

• 

  Egyptian Museum

  Turin
• 

  Palazzo Madama

  Turin
• 

  Royal Palace of Turin

  Turin
• 

  Turin Cathedral

  Turin
• 

  Mole Antonelliana

  Turin

Morning

Begin at Porta Palazzo, the open-air market that fills the octagonal Piazza della Repubblica, with covered market halls such as the Tettoia dell'Orologio, the food hall with the clock, on its north-east side. This is where Turin shops, and it shows you the region's cheeses, fish and meat before you meet the hills. Then walk into the old quarter behind it, where the street grid still follows the Roman town, and on toward the Santuario della Consolata.

Afternoon

Leave Turin for the Langhe by car, or by regional train to Alba. Alba is the capital of the hills: walk Via Maestra, as locals call the pedestrian main street of the old centre, and look up at the medieval towers that earned it the name of the city of a hundred towers. Step into the Gothic cathedral of San Lorenzo and the Baroque church of the Maddalena by Vittone.

Evening

Stay in Alba for dinner and learn the local table: tajarin, the thin hand-cut egg pasta, ravioli del plin, brasato al Barolo and bagna cauda, the warm dip for vegetables. If you can choose your days, plan to be in Alba on a Saturday morning, when the market fills the old centre and the Slow Food farmers' market, the Mercato della Terra, sets up in Piazza Pertinace; park outside the centre and walk in.

Where to eat. Al Bicerin on Piazza della Consolata, facing the sanctuary: coffee, drinking chocolate and cream in a small glass, in layers you drink without stirring. Cavour was a regular. Keep lunch light, from the stalls at Porta Palazzo, and save your appetite for Alba.

• 

  Turin

  City guide
• 

  Alba

  City guide

Morning

Drive into the Barolo zone, part of the UNESCO-listed Langhe vineyards, where the wine takes its name from the village. Begin at WiMu, the wine museum that opened in 2010 inside the Falletti castle, so you understand the wine before you taste it. Then walk the small lanes of Barolo and look at the vines running up to the walls.

Afternoon

Keep the afternoon for a cellar visit, booked in advance, at a family estate in or near Barolo. Barolo is pure Nebbiolo, made to age longer than its neighbour Barbaresco, so ask to taste the everyday reds of the hills too: Dolcetto d'Alba and Barbera d'Alba. A visit usually includes the barrel cellar and a seated tasting; do not stack two in one day.

Evening

Finish in La Morra, the village on the ridge above the vines. The piazza looks over vineyard-covered hills, and the bell tower, built in the early 1700s from the remains of a castle demolished in 1544, has views over the Langhe. Stay for the light as it changes and for dinner in the village, and reserve your table ahead.

Where to eat. Lunch in Barolo or a nearby village: tajarin with butter, or brasato al Barolo, the beef slowly braised in the local wine. Reserve dinner ahead, and ask the cellar you visit where to eat.

• 

  WiMu Wine Museum

  Barolo
• 

  Langhe Vineyards

  Barolo

Morning

Go into the woods with a trifolau, a truffle hunter, and his dog. Hunters must pass an exam and hold a licence, and it is the dog that finds the truffle: you walk, watch and learn how the tuber is dug out. Arrange it ahead through your hotel or a local guide, and treat a find as a bonus, not a promise, since what grows depends on the year. White truffle is eaten raw, shaved over plain dishes such as tajarin.

Afternoon

Drive to Barbaresco, a village whose wine comes from only three communes: Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso, plus a small part of Alba. Climb the medieval tower, the largest and most massive in Piedmont, whose top floor is a panoramic terrace. Nearby, the Enoteca Regionale occupies the deconsecrated church of San Donato, a good place to taste several producers before you choose a cellar.

Evening

Walk Neive, a medieval hill village and a member of the club of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Climb the cobbled lanes to the thirteenth-century clock tower and sit in Piazza Italia, the eighteenth-century town salon. Its hills also yield Dolcetto d'Alba and Moscato d'Asti, the sweet, lightly sparkling dessert wine that ends a meal here.

Where to eat. Eat the truffle as the Langhe do: a plate of tajarin or a simple egg dish with white truffle shaved over it at the table. Dinner in Neive is easy to find on foot; reserve ahead.

• 

  Langhe Vineyards

  Barolo

Morning

Cross the Tanaro into the Roero, the hill country on its left bank, where castles and villages crown the hilltops above the rocche, steep cliffs carved into the sandy soil. Its signature white is Roero Arneis, and its red is the local Roero. Take the ridge roads through villages such as Canale and Guarene, and book a tasting at an Arneis estate to taste the difference from the Langhe Nebbiolo.

Afternoon

Continue to Bra, where Slow Food began, as Arcigola, in 1986. Walk the centre to see the Chiesa di Santa Chiara by Vittone, with its quatrefoil plan and double dome, and the octagonal Zizzola villa on Monteguglielmo hill above the town. Taste Bra's own food: the cheese named after the town has always come mostly from the valleys around Cuneo, and the fresh sausage is traditionally eaten raw.

Evening

End at Pollenzo, a hamlet of Bra on the site of the Roman town of Pollentia. The University of Gastronomic Sciences and the Banca del Vino sit in the restored estate, and the neo-Gothic castle belongs to the UNESCO group of Savoy residences. Then return to Turin for your onward journey, tasting the last of the hills in the glass.

Where to eat. Lunch in Bra: ask for the salsiccia di Bra, the fresh veal sausage that is eaten raw, or grilled. Ask the waiter which Roero wine goes with it.

1. BraCity guide
2. Piedmont