Piedmont takes its name from its geography, the land at the foot of the mountains, ringed on three sides by the Alps that feed its rivers and frame every horizon.
Go in April to June and September to October.
- Fly into
- Turin (TRN)
- Capital
- Turin
- Size
- 25,387 km² (9,802 sq mi), about the size of Vermont
- People
- 4.3 million
Turin sets the tone, a city of Savoy palaces and arrow-straight porticoed streets, the old royal capital where the first Italian parliament met. South of it the hills begin, the Langhe and the Monferrato rolling away in vineyards and hazelnut groves toward the higher peaks beyond Cuneo.
This is a region that takes its table seriously, the birthplace of the Slow Food movement, founded in nearby Bra. Autumn brings the white truffles of Alba, shaved over hand-cut tajarin and agnolotti del plin, while the cellars hold Barolo and Barbaresco, the great Nebbiolo reds, beside the sweet sparkle of Asti and the gianduia chocolate Turin perfected. Cheeses run from alpine Castelmagno to creamy Robiola di Roccaverano.
Come in autumn, when the fog (the nebbia that names a grape) settles over the vines and the truffle markets open.
What to see in Piedmont
Save the ones you want and we'll find which of our routes reaches the most in the fewest nights.
Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century
Olivetti’s UNESCO-listed industrial city pairs modernist factories with homes and social-service buildings in a 20th-century urban experiment.
Royal Palace of Turin
The Savoy dynasty's palace, joined to Guarini's restored Chapel of the Holy Shroud and a Royal Armoury.
Langhe Vineyards
Barolo Vineyard hills, hilltop villages and winegrowing heritage in Piedmont’s Langhe.
Palazzo Madama
Turin's layered palace, Roman gate and medieval castle behind Juvarra's Baroque facade.
Royal Palace of Venaria
Venaria Reale The Savoys' answer to Versailles, its Great Gallery and gardens restored outside Turin.
Sacro Monte di Varallo
The original sacred mountain above Varallo, forty-five chapels and eight hundred painted figures.
Sacro Monte di Orta
Orta San Giulio Orta's hillside sanctuary of twenty frescoed chapels retelling Saint Francis's life above the lake.
Egyptian Museum
Turin Opened to the public in 1832 after a royal acquisition in 1824, Turin’s Museo Egizio brings together Kha and Merit’s burial goods, monumental Karnak statuary and the Nubian Temple of Ellesiya.
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How many nights in Piedmont?
Choose your nights and the route redraws: where to sleep, what to see, and the towns an easy day out from each base.
3 nights in Piedmont: Turin for 2 and Alba for 1.5 nights in Piedmont: Turin for 3 and Alba for 2.7 nights in Piedmont: Stresa for 2, Turin for 3 and Alba for 2.10 nights in Piedmont: Orta San Giulio for 2, Stresa for 2, Turin for 3 and Alba for 3.
Add your first day and each link opens on that stop's dates.
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Where to stay in Piedmont
Each stop with what to see and, where we have them, a day out and the hotel we'd book.
A medieval village on a wooded promontory of Lake Orta, gazing out at the Isola San Giulio with its ancient basilica and silent convent of Benedictine nuns.
- Day out
- Varallo
A Moorish-style villa with its own minaret above Lake Orta, offering fourteen suites and Antonino Cannavacciuolo's restaurant under the same roof.
Check dates: Villa CrespiMore in Orta San Giulio
Twenty lake-view apartments on a hillside vineyard above Orta San Giulio, with breakfast brought to the room and a terrace restaurant.
Check dates: La Darbia ResortOn the promontory above Orta San Giulio, a hotel with a garden pool and a panoramic terrace restaurant facing the island of San Giulio.
Check dates: Hotel Ristorante La Bussola
15 km from Orta San Giulio as the crow flies
The grand resort of Lake Maggiore, its belle époque hotels strung along a promenade facing the Borromean Islands.
- See
- Isola Bella
A short boat ride reaches Isola Bella, where the Borromeo palace crowns a ten-terraced Baroque garden roamed by white peacocks.
110 km from Stresa as the crow flies
The first capital of united Italy and the old seat of the Savoy, laid out in Baroque grandeur along eighteen kilometres of arcades.
- Day out
- Sant'Ambrogio di Torino · Venaria Reale
Facing Porta Nuova station, a long-established grand hotel with a nineteenth-century facade, handy for trains and the shopping arcades of Via Roma.
Check dates: Turin PalaceMore in Turin
A Rationalist landmark off Via Roma, with a mosaic ballroom, Murano chandeliers and upper-floor rooms looking out over Turin's rooftops.
Check dates: Principi di PiemonteA seventeenth-century charitable institute on Piazza Carlina turned hotel, with modern rooms around a lemon-tree courtyard and views to the Mole Antonelliana.
Check dates: Hotel NH Collection Torino Piazza Carlina
50 km from Turin as the crow flies
Other places to stay
A Moorish-style villa with its own minaret above Lake Orta, offering fourteen suites and Antonino Cannavacciuolo's restaurant under the same roof.
Check dates: Villa CrespiEco-built, family-run apartments on the hill road to Vergne, with a saltwater pool, the family vineyard alongside and truffle hunts arranged on request.
Check dates: La Rosa GiallaAgriturismo Le Viole
A farm stay in the vineyards at Vergne above Barolo, with a homemade breakfast, a large garden and tastings of its own wine.
Check dates: Agriturismo Le VioleVineho
Self-contained apartments at Bricco delle Viole above Barolo, with kitchens, balconies over the vineyards and a seasonal pool.
Check dates: VinehoA small, characterful guesthouse in Ivrea's old town, each room themed around the crafts and culture of Ivrea and the Canavese.
Check dates: Spazio (Bianco)An eco-minded boutique hotel in central Ivrea, a design-led base for exploring Olivetti's UNESCO-listed industrial city, with a gym and wellness area.
Check dates: 3T Boutique Hotel
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A traditional dinner from Piedmont
Every course is one the region actually serves. Change any of them and the wine, the timing and the shopping list follow.
Antipasto
Carne all’Albese
Finely knife-chopped lean veal with olive oil, lemon and garlic, served immediately as a Piedmontese antipasto.
First course
Agnolotti del Plin Burro e Salvia
The Langhe's tiny pinched pasta, filled with wine-braised meat and spinach, finished simply in butter and sage so the filling does the talking.
Main course
Brasato al Barolo
Beef braised slowly in Barolo with root vegetables, herbs and warm spices.
Dessert
Bonèt
A compact baked custard of milk, amaretti, cocoa and Marsala, finished with a thin caramel.
What to pour
A young Dolcetto d'Alba: soft, fruity and low in tannin, it sits easily with butter and sage and leaves the filling in charge.
Dolcetto d'Alba
Start the Brasato al Barolo the day before: 16 hr 50 min, most of it waiting.
Taste it there
Barolo and Barbaresco with a sommelier
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What Piedmont is known for
You will find these here and nowhere else.
The Scalone dei Morti climbs a crag above the Susa valley to the Zodiac Door of the abbey that inspired The Name of the Rose.
Carlo III Borromeo found a rocky crag with a tiny fishing village on Lake Maggiore; his palace for Isabella D'Adda and its garden now fill the island.
After about a year, needles pierce the wheels and blue veins open: Castelmagno, mostly cow's milk, may come only from three villages in the Valle Grana.
The working hills around Barolo
Around Barolo and La Morra, vineyard parcels meet farms, cellars and hilltop settlements. This is working country as well as a panorama. Piedmont’s vineyard World Heritage property protects defined components, including Barolo Langa, rather than every surrounding slope. Follow a specific area and its paths to understand how the landscape is put together.
Wines from PiedmontSources and citations (10)
- Piano paesaggistico regionale
- Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps
- Elenco alfabetico dei vini IGP italiani, 13 maggio 2026
- Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato
- UNESCO Vineyard Landscapes Association
- Elenco alfabetico dei vini DOP italiani, 18 marzo 2026
- Per Regione e Soccorso Alpino la sicurezza in montagna inizia prima di partire
- Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century
- Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
- Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
At Christmas
For a Piedmontese Christmas meal, decide whether the centre will be filled pasta, a shared warm bagna cauda or bollito with its different cuts. Each choice gives the table a different rhythm. The bollito’s meats have their own cooking times; the pasta needs filling and shaping before its final cooking. Choose the structure first and add the remaining courses around it.
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