Piedmont: Turin, the Langhe, Barolo and white truffles

Arrive in Turin

Turin Airport or Porta Nuova station to your hotel in Turin

• Repas du soir
• Nuit : Turin
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Late in the afternoon your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week, then leads a first walk under the arcades of Via Roma to Piazza San Carlo, the square Turin calls its drawing room, and on to Piazza Castello with the royal palace of the House of Savoy, part of a group of Savoy residences listed by UNESCO in 1997.

Soir

Dinner is together at a local restaurant: vitello tonnato, agnolotti and a glass of Piedmontese red.

Compris

• Pick-up at Turin Airport (TRN) or Torino Porta Nuova station
• Welcome briefing and an evening walk: Via Roma, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello
• Welcome dinner with wine

The Egyptian Museum, chocolate and vermouth

Turin on foot: the Museo Egizio, the old centre and its historic cafes

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Turin

Matin

We are at the Museo Egizio for the first entry slot of the day, with timed tickets and a local guide, before the school groups and the late-morning queue. It holds one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside Egypt: statues of pharaohs and gods, painted coffins and mummies, and the tomb of the architect Kha and his wife Merit, found intact with their food, clothes and furniture.

Après-midi

After about two and a half hours inside we sit down to lunch nearby. In the afternoon the walk turns to the two things Turin gave the world's cafes. Gianduja, chocolate blended with ground Piedmont hazelnuts, was made here in the 19th century, and we taste gianduiotti at a chocolate maker. Then a bicerin, the layered drink of coffee, chocolate and cream served in Turin's old cafes. Vermouth was first made commercially in Turin in the late 18th century, so the walk ends at aperitivo hour with a tasting of sweet and dry vermouth.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Museo Egizio in the first timed slot, with a local guide
• Sit-down lunch in the centre with wine
• Chocolate and vermouth walk: gianduiotti, a bicerin and a vermouth tasting

Activités en option

• The panoramic lift of the Mole Antonelliana, which also houses the National Cinema Museum (ticket paid locally)

Superga, then south to Alba

Turin to Sassi, the rack tramway to Superga, then Alba

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Alba
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

We load the bags into the van and drive a few minutes to Sassi, at the foot of the hill east of the city, for the late-morning rack tramway up to Superga through the woods (its first weekday run is about 10 am). On days the tram does not run, the van takes us up the road. At the top, Filippo Juvarra's basilica, built in the early 18th century for the House of Savoy, stands at about 670 metres, and its crypt holds the tombs of Savoy kings and princes, seen on the basilica's own guided tour, about 45 minutes and given in Italian, with your guide translating and adding the story. Behind the church is the memorial to the Grande Torino football team, killed when their plane hit the hill in 1949. On a clear morning the whole arc of the Alps is behind Turin.

Après-midi

Then we drive south, about an hour and a quarter, out of the Po plain into the hills of the Langhe, and have lunch in Alba. Afterwards your guide walks you through the old town of medieval towers, the Duomo and Via Vittorio Emanuele, and the rest of the day is free.

Compris

• Sassi to Superga rack tramway, or the van when it does not run
• Basilica of Superga and the royal tombs of the House of Savoy, on the basilica's own tour with your guide translating
• Lunch in Alba with wine
• Orientation walk in Alba's old town

La Morra and Barolo

Alba to La Morra, a Barolo cellar and Barolo village, then back to Alba

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Alba
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

Late morning we visit a family Barolo producer by appointment: the vineyard, the cellar where Nebbiolo ages for at least 38 months before release, at least 18 of them in wood, and a tasting of several wines.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a trattoria in the hills, with tajarin, braised beef in Barolo and a local cheese. In the afternoon we walk Barolo village and visit the WiMu wine museum inside the Falletti castle, then drive back to Alba by about 5 pm.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• La Morra belvedere in the morning
• Barolo cellar visit and tasting with a family producer
• Trattoria lunch with wine
• Barolo village and the WiMu wine museum in the Falletti castle

A truffle hunt and a truffle lunch

Alba to the truffle woods and back, then free in Alba

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Alba
• Environ 45 min de route

Après-midi

Back in Alba we sit down to a truffle lunch: tajarin with butter and, in season, white truffle shaved at the table.

Soir

The afternoon and evening are free. On autumn weekends the Alba White Truffle Fair is a short walk from the hotel, and on Saturdays the town fills with its market.

Compris

• Truffle hunt with a trifolao and his dog
• Truffle lunch in Alba with wine

Activités en option

• The Alba White Truffle Fair on autumn weekends (ticket paid locally)

Hazelnuts, Barbaresco and a cooking class

Alba to a hazelnut farm, Barbaresco, then the cooking class and back to Alba

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Alba
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

Mid-morning we visit a family hazelnut farm in the hills, walk the orchard, see how the nuts are dried and roasted, and taste them as they are, as a paste and in a hazelnut cake. Then we drive to Barbaresco, a village of a few hundred people around a medieval tower above the Tanaro, for a cellar visit and tasting of Barbaresco, the other great Nebbiolo of the Langhe, aged for at least 26 months before release.

Après-midi

Lunch is yours in Barbaresco or nearby Neive, with your guide's suggestions. At about 3:30 pm we meet a local cook for a hands-on class: tajarin, the fine egg pasta of the Langhe, and agnolotti del plin, pinched by hand.

Soir

What we make becomes the farewell dinner, with local wine. We eat early by Italian standards and are back in Alba by about 8:30 pm.

Compris

• Hazelnut farm visit and tasting
• Barbaresco cellar visit and tasting
• Hands-on cooking class: tajarin and agnolotti del plin
• Farewell dinner with wine

Bra, Pollenzo and home

Alba to Bra and Pollenzo, then Turin Airport or Porta Nuova station

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about 25 minutes west to Bra, the small town where Slow Food began in the 1980s, as a movement for local food eaten slowly against the arrival of fast food in Italy. Your guide walks you through its baroque centre, past the movement's offices, a historic cheese shop and a butcher selling salsiccia di Bra, the town's veal sausage, often eaten raw. A few minutes away is Pollenzo, a Savoy royal estate that now houses the University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded by Slow Food in 2004. We stop in the courtyard of the old Agenzia buildings before driving north, about an hour and a quarter, to Turin Airport (TRN), arriving by about 1:30 pm. We can also drop you at Torino Porta Nuova station for a train to Milan or beyond. Your guide sees you to the terminal or the station before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 3:30 pm.

Compris

• Guided walk in Bra, the town where Slow Food began
• Stop at Pollenzo and the University of Gastronomic Sciences
• Drop-off at Turin Airport (TRN) or Torino Porta Nuova station