Did we just find our new favorite autumn destination in Italy?!!? Yes, yes we did! Piedmont has long been on our trip wishlist, but somehow we always found reasons not to go...until now. And after just 4 short days in Piedmont, it's now proven itself as one of the best kept secrets in all of Italy. So step aside Tuscany, we're now recommending all our friends go to Piedmont instead.
Piedmont is the perfect autumn destination for those of you who love high quality food (did someone say truffles?) and incredible red wines (they also have very good white wines, but the reds are on another level). Our days pretty much revolved around exploring the adorable tiny towns in the area and ensuring we found the best restaurants for our next bowl of tajarin or agnolotti pasta.
Top 3 Must-Do’s for a Piedmont Itinerary:
Drive along the SP125 road from Roddino to Serralunga d'Alba
Go to the Alba White Truffle Fair
Taste as many Barolo wines as humanly possible
Duration: 4 nights (can easily extend to 6 nights if you want to go at a slower pace)
Best Time to Go: October/November for the Alba White Truffle Fair or May through September for warmer weather
Table of Contents
Piedmont: Itinerary at a Glance
Day | Activities |
Day 1 | Arrive at the Milan Airport and drive 2 hours to Alba. |
Day 2 | Explore the towns of Neive and Barbaresco. |
Day 3 | Explore the towns of La Morra, Verduno, and Roddi**. |
Day 4 | Explore the towns of Castiglione Falletto, Monforte d'Alba**, Serralunga d'Alba**, and Barolo. |
Day 5 | Head off to your next adventure! If you want to extend your trip, we recommend heading east to the Dolomites! |
** Represents our favorite, must-visit towns in Piedmont
Just the Facts
Stay: Alba
If you're only going to Piedmont for a few days, we recommend staying in the town of Alba. Alba is centrally located, within about a 15-20 minute drive from most of the towns. The town itself is located in a valley, so you won't have the beautiful views of the Langhe, but it's the most lively town in the area and has a great selection of restaurants and wine bars. We found it to be the perfect base allowing us to easily explore the surrounding towns during the day and then come back at night to enjoy dinner without worrying about driving home. There's plenty of Airbnb's right downtown in Alba and the town itself is super walkable, so as long as you're within the inner ring road, you'll be perfectly located!
If you plan to stay in Piedmont longer than a 4 days, then we recommend still staying in Alba for part of the trip, but also spending a few nights at one of the resorts close to Serralunga d'Alba. The SP125 road leading up to Serralunga d'Alba has some of the most incredible views we've ever seen! Here are a few resorts we recommend that have restaurants on site:
Antico Podere Tota Virginia ($$): A rustic agroturismo style resort with amazing views, a nice pool, and restaurant on site.
Il Boscareto Resort & Spa ($$$$): If you're really looking to splurge, this is hand's down to place to stay. The resort itself sits on top of the vineyards with an almost 360 degree view of the Langhe. It's absolutely stunning!
Eat: Best Restaurants in Piedmont
Alba:
Osteria del Vicoletto: Incredible wine list, very cozy interiors and slightly upscale (but same price as everything else around town). Great fresh pastas - order the tajarin ragu or the agnolotti.
Petricore Enoteca con Cucina: Another place with a great wine list. The vibes are a bit funky in here but the food is great. Lots of fresh pastas.
Conterosso: Whatever you do, make sure you order the grilled lamb here - it's possibly the best lamb we've every had! The agnolotti are also very good here, but skip the tajarin ragu as it's too saucy in our opinion.
Osteria dei Sognatori: Traditional, lively restaurant with all the dishes you'd expect. It can be a bit chaotic, but the food is good.
Acquasale: Another very traditional restaurant, a bit more laid back than Osteria dei Sognatori, but similar menu,
Other Towns in Piedmont:
La Volta Rossa di Roddi d'Alba (Roddi): Best restaurant of the trip! We're still dreaming about the agnolotti and tajarin pastas - perfectly cooked and the flavors were incredible! The steak tartare starter was also amazing. Note, they only work with reservations, no walk-ins.
Rabayà (Barbaresco): Beautiful restaurant with a terrace overlooking the vineyards just outside of Barbaresco. They have an incredible cheese selection and very good fresh pastas. Come for lunch.
Vinoteca Centro Storico (Serralunga d'Alba): Super cute authentic restaurant that's always packed with locals. It has a nice outdoor terrace, and inside has the coziest vibes. Huge wine list and amazing food.
Osteria More e Macine (La Morra)
Osteria Veglio (La Morra)
Milan:
Osteria dell'Acquabella: Very highly recommend coming here if you want to try traditional Milanese food. Start with the selection of cheeses (this might sound boring, but these were honestly some of the best cheeses we've ever tasted!) and then order the ossobuco with saffron rice for the main. The vibes in here are super cozy and they have an extensive wine selection.
Frangente: If you're looking for something a bit more upscale and hip, Frangente is the place to be! You can still find some Milanese classics, but with a modern spin.
Drink: Best Wine Bars & Wineries in Piedmont
Alba:
Cichin Vin e Crije Alba: One of the quaintest wine bars we've ever stepped foot in. We came here around 4pm unannounced and had the most amazing private wine tasting! The vibes here an incredible and homey, trust us, you'll love it!
De Gustibus Wine Shop: This is a wine shop, but they have a great free wine tasting every day and the guys who work there are super friendly! They also have an amazing selection of wine so you can buy a bottle to enjoy on your own after the tasting.
Other Towns in Piedmont:
Vineria Sociale (La Morra)
È...DiVino (Serralunga d'Alba)
Cantina Comunale di Castiglione Falletto (Castiglione Falletto)
Enoteca - La cantinetta di Barun (Neive)
Enoteca La Vite Turchese (Barolo)
Wineries near Alba with tastings and tours (book ahead online):
Piedmont Itinerary Map
Driving in Piedmont
For those of you who are hesitant about driving in Italy, you're in luck–Piedmont was some of the easiest driving we've ever experienced in Europe. All the roads are well maintained, drivers tend to be quite tame, and most of the roads you'll be on are calm country roads without traffic and wide enough to comfortably pass.
Tolls: Do be aware that the there are some automatic tolls on the highway between MXP Airport and Piedmont. You can freely pass through these tolls without a toll device, however you will need to pay online within 14 days at asticuneo.it.
An added bonus (that we've never experienced anywhere else in Italy) is that all the towns in Piedmont have large FREE parking lots just outside the town walls making it super easy to get in and out. Throughout the itinerary, we'll specify exactly where these parking lots are.
Alba White Truffle Fair
The Alba White Truffle Fair is held in Alba every Saturday & Sunday from mid-October to early-December every year–if you love truffles, you have to come to this fair! The main event is under a large tent in the town center filled with local producers offering samples of truffle-themed items (fresh pastas, spreads, butters, cheeses). There's also several wine producers offering tastings of their wines so this is a great opportunity to try all the local wines! And of course, if you want to buy a coveted white truffle, this is the place to do it! We spent a good 3 hours here and loved every second of it!
You can buy tickets for €5 at the main entrance or online and they include access to the main tent with all the samples and tastings! (Note: you can also buy a €10 wine tasting coupon that gets you 2 glasses of wine, but we found this wasn't necessary because the vendors offer plenty of free samples).
This is considered to be the busiest time in Alba so be sure to book Airbnbs, hotels, and restaurants well in advance.
Detailed Piedmont Itinerary
Day 1: Drive from Milan to Alba
Arrive at the Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) in the morning or early afternoon, pickup your rental car, and drive 2 hours to Alba.
Note: If you don't want to drive to Alba the first day of arrival, you can spend the first night in Milan. Do be aware though that the city center is quite far from the Malpensa Airport (at least an hour by train), and you'll need to return to the airport to pickup your rental car. If you choose to drive your rental car into Milan city center, be aware of ZTL areas in Milan and try to book at hotel or Airbnb outside Zone C to avoid any potential fines.
Once you arrive in Alba, spend the rest of the day exploring the main town. Alba is the most lively town in Piedmont and has a great selection of restaurants and wine bars. It's also super walkable with tons of cute little pedestrian streets. If you arrive early enough, we recommend stopping by one of these wine bars to get an introduction into the local wines:
Day 2: Neive & Barbaresco
It's just a 20 minute drive from Alba to Neive, so we recommend heading over in the late morning (around 11AM). You'll notice that there tends to be a fog over the Langhe hills that clears up by the late morning (or in our case, it rained the entire time we were there, but we still loved it!).
Park your car in this free parking lot in Neive and wander around the town. Like with all the towns in Piedmont, Neive is super tiny and can be explored within about 30 minutes. If you have some extra time, we recommend stopping by the Enoteca for a glass of wine on their patio.
After you finish up in Neive, drive 5 minutes down to road to a beautiful lunch spot called Rabaya. It's just outside Barbaresco and has the most stunning outdoor terrace with views of the vineyards. Be sure to book a table ahead of time!
After lunch, head up to the town of Barbaresco. There are plenty of free parking spots on the main road leading from Rabaya to Barbaresco (as long as the line is white, it's free). Barbaresco is even smaller than Neive, with just one main street leading to a tower. We actually weren't overly impressed with Barbaresco, but if you have the spare time, it's worth taking 30 minutes to walk around.
Head back to Alba in the late afternoon and enjoy the rest of the night in town.
Day 3: La Morra, Verduno, and Roddi
We recommend visiting 3 towns today, and you can really do them in any order you'd like depending on where you want to end up for lunch. Ideally, we recommend having lunch in Roddi because we had the best meal of the trip here at La Volta Rossa di Roddi d'Alba, but you can also opt for La Morra as it has several good restaurant options. Verduno is in between Roddi and La Morra, but not a great lunch spot as it's super tiny with very limited restaurant options.
Start the day out around 10AM and drive 20 minutes to La Morra, parking your car in this free parking lot just at the base of town. La Morra is a beautiful historic town with several adorable pedestrian streets winding up to to a stunning lookout point–in our opinion, this lookout point really is the highlight of La Morra. You'll only need about 30 minutes here to see it all. There are several cafes to stop for a coffee and small snack.
Once you've finished up at La Morra, drive 5 minutes up the road to Verduno, and park your car in this free parking lot. Verduno is much smaller than La Morra and you honestly only need maximum 15 minutes to walk around and stop by the lookout point. If you're interested in doing a wine tasting, there's a really nice winery just in town called Cantine Castello di Verduno. They have an 11:30AM tour and tasting daily that you can book in advance on their website.
After Verduno, drive another 7 minutes to Roddi and park at the base of town in this free parking lot. Roddi is one of our favorite towns in all of Piemonte, and it's also home to by far the best restaurant we ate at during our trip, La Volta Rossa di Roddi d'Alba. We cannot stress enough how important it is that you go here! The restaurant works strictly with reservations, so send them an email (info@lavoltarossa.it) a few days before to book your table.
After lunch, explore the rest of town, walking up to the Castello di Roddi. If the weather's nice, you can also stop by L'ora giusta for a quick drink to enjoy their incredible terrace overlooking the Langhe.
The drive from Roddi back to Alba is only about 15 minutes, so you'll be back in town by mid to late afternoon. If you're here any weekend in October or November, we recommend spending the rest of the day at the Alba White Truffle Fair. You can buy tickets at the main entrance and they include access to the main tent with tons of vendors offering tastings of truffle themed items (fresh pastas, spreads, butters, cheeses). There's also several wine producers offering tastings of their wines so this is a great opportunity to try all the local wines! And of course, if you want to buy a coveted white truffle, this is the place to do it! We spent a good 3 hours here and loved every second of it!
If you're not here during the Alba White Truffle Fair, then we recommend heading to one of the many wine bars in town to try some of Piedmont's famous wines.
Day 4: Castiglione Falletto, Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga d'Alba, and Barolo
Lots of exploring to do today, but don't be intimidated by the sheer number of towns we're recommending you visit–at this point, we think you've caught on to the fact that towns in Piedmont are super tiny, meaning you can visit multiple in a day without feeling rushed.
Start the morning around 9:30AM, drive 20 minutes to the tiny town of Castiglione Falletto, and park you car in this free parking lot. This is a super cute town with only a few streets winding around the main Castello di Castiglione Falletto.
Continue about 10 minutes down the road to Monforte d'Alba. This is another one of our favorite towns and one that requires a bit more effort to explore as it's situated on a very steep hill. Park you car at the base of town in this free parking lot, or in any of the white spaces on the surrounding streets.
You'll be greeted immediately by the beautiful Church of Beata Vergine della Neve and then you will continue into the historic area with pedestrian streets all winding up to the top of the hill to the Castello di Monforte. The streets themselves make you feel like you're in a fairytale and the views from the top are so worth the steep incline!!
After Monforte d'Alba, it's time for our very favorite part of the entire trip! Take to SP125 road from Roddino to Serralunga d'Alba (you can make a quick pitstop in Roddino if you have some extra time before lunch). This road is absolutely stunning and left us both speechless (we stopped no less than 15 times on the side of the road to get out and take photos). It's a country road that winds through vineyards and has the most beautiful views overlooking the Langhe. This part of the trip wasn't even on our original itinerary, but we heard from several locals during our first few days that it was a must, and they were right! Serralunga d'Alba also turned out to be our favorite town we visited in Piemonte.
Once you get the Serralunga d'Alba, you can park in this free parking lot and then head to lunch at Vinoteca Centro Storico (be sure to book a table a few days ahead as it's a super popular lunch spot). After lunch, head just up the road to the Castello di Serralunga d'Alba for some more great views.
The final stop of the day is a town we're sure you've all heard of before because of it's iconic wine, Barolo. And while we absolutely love Barolo wines, we were super disappointed by the town itself. This probably doesn't come as too much of a surprise, but due to the popularity of Barolo wine, the town of Barolo has become somewhat of a tourist trap. It doesn't feel authentic like the other towns in Piedmont, but we do still think it's worth going just to say you went.
When you arrive in Barolo, parking can be a bit chaotic but just be patient and wait for a spot to open up (there's a constant flow of cars coming in and out so spots do open up rather quickly). This is the main free parking lot, but there's also several others on the road leading down to the main lot.
Our top recommendation while in Barolo is to make your way up to the roofdeck at Borgogno (you can access the roofdeck for free, just follow the stairs to the top). The views from here totally make up for the tourist craziness below, and most people don't even know this roofdeck exists. If you'd like to taste a few wines before you head back to Alba, we recommend stopping by Enoteca La Vite Turchese.
Day 5
That's it for Piedmont! Drive 2 hours back to Milan and head off on your next adventure.
If you want to extend your trip, we have plenty of other itineraries throughout Italy:
Head east to the Dolomites, Valpolicella, Lake Garda, and Venice for epic mountain views, hiking, and wine
Check out central Italy and the adorable beachside towns in Southern Lazio with virtually no tourists
Venture through the towns of Umbria, and get all the vibes of Tuscany with none of the tourists
Go super south to the rugged area of Puglia for the freshest seafood and cutest seaside escape
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