Piedmont: Turin, the Langhe, Barolo and white truffles

1. Day 1: Arrive in Turin

   Turin Airport or Porta Nuova station to your hotel in Turin

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Turin
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Turin Airport (TRN), about 17 km north of the city, or arrive by train at Torino Porta Nuova, about an hour from Milan on the fast line. A driver meets you at the airport and takes you to a central hotel within a short walk of Piazza Castello. Plan to arrive by about 4 pm (the exact latest time is confirmed with your final itinerary). 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. Dinner is together at a local restaurant: vitello tonnato, agnolotti and a glass of Piedmontese red.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon briefing

   Activity: About 1 hour on foot on flat, arcaded streets.

   

2. Day 2: The Egyptian Museum, chocolate and vermouth

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

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Turin
   Day 2 details

   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. 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. The evening is free.

   Included

   • 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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Rest at the hotel after lunch and join the walk at the vermouth tasting, a short taxi ride away.

   More active option: Ride the Mole Antonelliana lift in your free evening for the view over the city to the Alps.

   Free time: Evening free in Turin

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot, mostly standing in the museum and on flat streets. The museum closes at 2 pm on Mondays (9 am to 6:30 pm Tuesday to Sunday), so this day is never a Monday.

   

3. Day 3: Superga, then south to Alba

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

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Alba
   Day 3 details

   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. 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.

   Included

   • 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

   Easier option: Skip the climb to the basilica dome (when it is open) and wait on the terrace.

   More active option: Climb the basilica dome's stairs for the wider view, when it is open (ticket paid locally).

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Alba

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot, with steps down to the crypt. The tramway does not run on Wednesdays and keeps a seasonal timetable, so departures are set on days it runs where possible; otherwise the van drives up.

   

4. Day 4: La Morra and Barolo

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

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Alba
   Day 4 details

   We drive about 25 minutes into the Barolo hills and start at La Morra's belvedere before 10 am, when in autumn the mist is still lifting off the vineyards and the villages of Barolo, Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga sit on their ridges below. These vineyards are part of the Langhe-Roero and Monferrato landscape listed by UNESCO in 2014. 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. 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. The evening is free.

   Included

   • 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

   Easier option: Stay in the van between La Morra and Barolo and meet the group at the cellar.

   More active option: Walk from La Morra down to Barolo on a marked vineyard path, about 5 km and mostly downhill, with the guide (we confirm the path at booking).

   Free time: Evening free in Alba

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot on village cobbles and slopes; cellar floors can be cool and damp. The walk is weather-dependent. The WiMu is open daily but keeps shorter hours from mid-November and closes in February; late-autumn departures visit earlier in the afternoon.

   

5. Day 5: A truffle hunt and a truffle lunch

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

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Alba
   Day 5 details

   Truffles are hunted early, so we leave at 8 am for woods about 15 minutes from Alba to meet a trifolao, a truffle hunter, and his dog. For about an hour we follow them among oaks, poplars and hazels along a stream while the dog works the ground and the hunter explains how the trees, the soil and the weather decide where truffles grow, and why hunters keep their spots secret. From October to December this is the white truffle season and a find is possible but never promised. In spring and early autumn the hunt is a demonstration, and the dog searches for whatever truffle is in season. Back in Alba we sit down to a truffle lunch: tajarin with butter and, in season, white truffle shaved at the table. 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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Wait at the edge of the wood, where the trifolao brings the dog back to show the find, or go straight to lunch with the van.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Alba

   Activity: About 1 hour on damp, uneven woodland paths with short steep sections; wear shoes with grip. The 8 am start is the trip's earliest, because that is when the hunt works.

   

6. Day 6: Hazelnuts, Barbaresco and a cooking class

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

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Alba
   Day 6 details

   The Langhe grow the Tonda Gentile, the round hazelnut sold as Nocciola Piemonte, which is what goes into Turin's gianduja. 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. 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. 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.

   Included

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

   Easier option: Watch the cooking class from the table instead of rolling pasta; you still eat the dinner.

   More active option: Climb the Barbaresco tower to its terrace over the Tanaro valley in your free time, when it is open (ticket paid locally).

   Free time: Lunch and early afternoon free in Barbaresco or Neive

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot on farm paths and village streets, and about 2 hours standing for the class.

7. Day 7: Bra, Pollenzo and home

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

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 7 details

   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.

   Included

   • 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

   Easier option: If your flight leaves before about 3 pm, we go straight from Alba to the airport after breakfast.

   Activity: About 1 hour on foot. Book a flight leaving after about 3:30 pm to see Bra and Pollenzo.

   

Wildlife and weather: September and October are harvest months in the Langhe: mild days, cellars busy with the vintage, and mist in the valleys in the morning. November is cooler and often foggy, which is part of the truffle season's look. April to June is green and mild, with long evenings, but no white truffles. July and August are hot, and some producers close for a week or two around 15 August.

• Turin2 nights
• Alba4 nights