Piedmont suggested itineraries

Just a few kilometers South of Turin, Asti is one of Piedmont's most elegant cities. Famous for its magnificent tower houses, Asti is often called the city of a hundred towers but it is also renowned for its superb wines and spectacular Palio horse-race. The historic center, where the remaining 12 of 120 towers can be seen, has conserved its typically medieval radial plan, and is best visited on foot or by bike. Asti is worth exploring not only above but also beneath the ground, where the crypt of S. Anastasio is hidden. The city's medieval past comes back to life every third Sunday of September, when more than a thousand people dress up in elaborate period costumes and parade through the town for the historic Palio, a spectacular horse race which takes place in Piazza Alfieri. This area of Piedmont is famous for its Barbera d'Asti wine, for its highly prized truffles, and for gastronomic delicacies such as bagna caoda and gran bollito.

Alba is both the 'capital of Langhe and the Italian White Truffle Capital. It is here, in the second largest comune in the province of Cuneo, that a world famous truffle festival has been held, since 1929. Famous names, such as Joe di Maggio, Alfred Hitchcock and Sofia Lauren, have all come here, eager to witness the earnest sniffing, measuring and weighing of the town's, incredibly expensive, and supremely pungent fungi. The International White Truffle Fair is a not to be missed event, an occasion to taste and purchase Alba's famous truffles, but also to participate in the medieval games held in the city and in the surrounding towns and villages. Alba's cathedral, which dominates the historic center's Piazza Risorgimento, is widely considered, despite the many alterations that have been made over the centuries, to be the perfect expression of late Gothic architecture in Piedmont.

South of Alba, is Roddi, a charming little town which more than merits a visit, if only to see it's splendid 11th century castle. Built in the highest part of the historic center, where it commands views over the Tanaro valley below, the castle is rich in precious decorations. This stronghold has recently been included in a selected group of eight castles within the area of Langhe and Roero, known as I Castelli Doc.

The castle at Grinzane Cavour has also been included in the I Castelli Doc. Grinzane Cavour became a symbol of the Langa del Barolo after Count Benso, the mayor of the town for some 17 years running, transformed it into a production base for the great wines of Langa. Today, Grinzane Cavour is home to an important wine museum and an ethnographic museum which illustrates the local farming traditions.

Surrounded by vine-covered hills, Barolo has given its name to one of Piedmont's greatest wines. The town has a number of fortified edifices, which were erected to defend the area from Saracen incursions. Castle Falletti, dating all the way back to the 10th century contains a fascinating ethnographic museum and is soon due to house a wine museum in which visitors will be able to learn about the history of the Barolo wine - a beverage which plays an essential role in the town's cultural identity.

Acqui Terme lies on the road from Asti to Nizza Monferrato. The town has been famous for its hot sulphur springs since the times when the ancient Romans built their Aquae Statiellae here, exploiting the water which surfaces at a temperature of 75°C right in the middle of the town - today's Piazza della Bollente - and in the nearby Lago delle Sorgenti. The Regina Thermal Resort and the town's large public swimming pool, built in 1927, are near the lake. From the Carlo Alberto bridge, over the river Bormida, a portion of an ancient Roman aqueduct, one of the best conserved in the whole of northern Italy, can be seen.