Weekend in Piemonte
How to get there: If you are travelling from any major city in Switzerland (Zürich, Bern, Lucerne) we definitely recommend going by car. The Piemonte region is beautiful to discover on your own at your own pace and this can get lost a bit when you go by train - also the train connections are not great and your travel time will drastically increase. We rented a car for this long weekend as we really wanted to explore quite a bit. The trip from Zürich took around 4.5 hours, we recommend you leave on Wednesday or Thursday evening instead of Friday as you will find less traffic.
When to go: Piemonte and especially Alba are known for its truffle. if you are a fan of truffles the International White Truffles Fair might be something for you although prices tend to really peak from October to December and you will be surrounded by thousands of tourists and might have problems making reservations in good restaurants. If truffles is not your main priority then you should definitely go from May-July and in September when the weather is great (but not too hot - try to avoid August) and when the prices are much lower. This is also the perfect season for driving around and exploring (in November/December it rains more and there tends to be a lot of fog which might influence your experience in a negative way).
Activity Ideas: The number one activity in Piemonte is wine tasting and eating! Yes, Piemonte is definitely a relaxing area but you can also visit some nearby cities (e.g. Turin). Check this tour or this tour for wine tasting or if you want a mix of food and wine tasting go here. For the sporty ones you can take part in this fun e-bike self guided winery tour where you can see things at your own pace with no stress.
Where to stay: Piemonte is full of adorable B&B’s and Hotels but some are of course better than others. Our all time favorite is the Relais San Maurizio - it is a 5 star hotel located on top of a hill, some of the perks are the Michelin Star Restaurant, the indoor & outdoor pools, the SPA and the views. Another amazing 5 star property is the Villa Crespi where the famous chef Cannavacciuolo (an Italian version of Gordon Ramsey) cooks for you. Some other great places to stay (that are also cheaper) are: Relais Villa D’Amelia and Sunstar Hotel Piemont.
Below you will find our weekend itinerary with various activity options you can choose from.
Weekend Itinerary:
Day 1 (Friday)
As we decided to leave Thursday evening from Zürich, we arrived in Piemonte at around 22:30 - just in time to enjoy a delicious glass of red wine from the region at Relais San Maurizio, where we were staying. On Friday we woke up early and decided to visit Alba and have lunch at one of the best restaurants we have ever been to - La Ciau del Tornavento (you will have to reserve to eat here). After lunch we made our way to Monferrato where we drove around and stopped for pictures and wine. After spending some time in the swimming pool we had dinner at Ristorante San Marco - we loved this restaurant so much: the food was delicious the service was incredible and the bill… was really the biggest surprise as we ended up paying EUR 80 for 2 people for a Michelin Star quality restaurant.
Day 2 (Saturday)
Saturday was our active day as we decided to do the e-bike self guided winery tour (the e-bike rental was only a 20 min drive away from the hotel). We were a bit skeptical about this tour at first but ended up enjoying it so much! You are on your own and you download an app which tells you where to drive and where to stop…and where to taste wine. Needless to say we were tipsy and our phones were full of picturesque images after the 4 hours biking around and discovering wineries. For lunch we ended up eating a simple panini as we had eaten a lot the day before and had a very delicious dinner ahead of us. The afternoon was dedicated to pampering in the SPA and in the evening we had a drink in our hotel terrace and dinner at the Michelin Star restaurant of the hotel - Guido da Costigliole - magical views and delicious food.
Day 3 (Sunday)
Sunday had come so quickly and our weekend was already coming to an end. We decided to enjoy the last morning in our hotel. On our way back to Switzerland we decided to take a little detour to Torino as we had never been. The city was a lot more majestic than I had thought and it made me want to return to spend a full weekend there. We had lunch at Le tre Galline - delicious - before returning back home.
