Luxury holidays to Piemonte Italy | Tailor-made luxury hotel holidays

An Expressions tailor-made holiday to Piemonte beckons lovers of wine and food, art and architecture and dramatic, natural but also gloriously cultivated landscapes. Piemonte is essentially a country region of alpine peaks in the north, flat rice-producing river valleys further south, rolling vineyards with attractive villages, forested hills dotted with mediaeval castles and almost at its centre the city of Turin, known throughout the world as a great industrial centre but in fact, outstandingly rich in architectural gems, both modern and in particular Baroque. North of Turin is the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, with miles of unspoiled natural scenery of mountain peaks and meadows, of rare wildlife and flowers. The splendid palaces, parks and hunting lodges of the Princes of Savoy can be visited in the countryside near Turin on your holiday. Our Piemonte hotels are situated in the remarkable wine-producing regions of the Langhe and Asti, renowned for their beautiful scenery, magnificent wines and fine gastronomy.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have been sending clients to Piemonte for many years, and the region rewards exactly the kind of personal connection we have built up with its producers, hoteliers and guides. Rather than a standard tasting-room visit, we can arrange a private cellar tour with the winemaker themselves in Barolo or Barbaresco, or a half-day truffle hunt with a local hunter and his dog in the Langhe woods, timed to the autumn season when the white truffles of Alba are at their best. Our small collection of hotels in the region, such as Relais San Maurizio, a converted 17th-century monastery, and Villa Beccaris in the wine-town of Monforte d'Alba, each have Michelin-starred or highly regarded restaurants of their own, so the gastronomy continues well beyond the vineyard visit itself. We handle the hire car, the timings and the introductions, so the day has the shape of a considered itinerary rather than a series of separately booked appointments.

Piemonte's wine and food culture runs deeper than its two most famous reds. Dolcetto offers an easier, everyday counterpart to Barolo and Barbaresco, while the Monferrato hills around Asti produce their own distinctive wines and are the setting for the Palio di Asti, a medieval horse race and pageant held each September alongside a local wine fair. Alba's autumn truffle market is the obvious centrepiece, but the region's gastronomy extends to dishes such as manzo al Barolo, beef slow-cooked in the local wine, fonduta, a warm fontina and truffle dip, and bagna cauda, a pungent garlic and anchovy sauce traditionally shared at the table. Cuneo holds a cheese fair each November and a weekly market in the Piazza Galimberti, while Ivrea's carnival, with its extraordinary Battle of Oranges, adds a very different, more theatrical note to a late-winter visit. We can build a stay around any of these, timed to the particular season and interest.

Turin is often overlooked by travellers who think of Piemonte purely in terms of vineyards, yet the city is one of Italy's great Baroque set-pieces and sits at the heart of the region. Filippo Juvarra's Palazzo Madama now houses the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, home to Antonello da Messina's Portrait of an Unknown Man, while Guarini's Palazzo Carignano and the arcaded Piazza San Carlo give a sense of the city's 18th-century grandeur as the former capital of the House of Savoy. Just outside Turin, the Savoy dynasty's palaces and hunting lodges, including the Reggia di Venaria Reale, the Castello di Rivoli and La Mandria, can be visited within a short drive of the vineyard hotels, so a stay can move easily between wine country and courtly architecture within the same holiday. For those who enjoy quieter Romanesque buildings, the Abbey of Vezzolano at Albugnano is among the finest in the region.

Piemonte's position, inland from the Ligurian coast and within reach of the Italian Lakes, makes it a natural partner for a longer fly-drive holiday rather than a single-centre stay. A typical itinerary might begin on the Ligurian Riviera, in a resort such as Santa Margherita, before driving inland through the Langhe hills to a vineyard hotel near Alba, giving a striking contrast between coastal colour and rolling wine country within a matter of hours. Equally, Piemonte combines well with the Italian Lakes, pairing a stay on Lake Maggiore with the vineyards and gastronomy of the Langhe or Monferrato, and we are always happy to build in garden visits along the way. We include a hire car with all Piemonte holidays, with no charge for a one-way drop-off, which makes this kind of two- or three-centre touring holiday straightforward to arrange without retracing your route.

It is, and it is a combination we increasingly recommend to clients who already know Tuscany or Rome well and are looking for a different pairing of city and countryside. Milan is easily reached from Piemonte, whether arriving by rail via Turin or driving between the two, and offers a very different cultural register: La Scala, the city's design and fashion quarter, and the Brera galleries sit alongside the more industrial, sophisticated atmosphere the city is known for. A few nights in Milan at the start or end of a stay allow for opera, shopping and gallery visits, before or after several days at a vineyard hotel in the Langhe or Monferrato, hire car included, for wine-tasting, truffle-hunting and Turin's Baroque architecture. It is a considered alternative to the more familiar Florence-and-Tuscany pairing, aimed at those who want to discover a lesser-known corner of northern Italy.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

● Single centre or multi-centre
● Long or short stays
● Combine a number of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Italy and within Italy, combining flights, hire-car, rail, ferries and private transfers

Our special interest holidays to Piemonte

● Food and wine holidays
● Wine tours for small groups
● Cultural tours for individuals
● Private guided sightseeing
● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Spa holidays
● Truffle-hunting holidays

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Call us on 01392 441245

Highlights of Piemonte

Turin, the regional capital, is a fascinating city of Baroque architecture and famous for its association with Fiat cars. Visit the car museum, the Mole Antonelli for a panoramic view. Visit some of the beautiful 18th Century House of Savoy palaces, many built by Filippo Juvarra, including Rivoli, Venaria Reale and Mandria. North of Turin is the subalpine region of Canavese with numerous castles many of which have been opened to the public very recently such as the Castello di Masino, now carefully restored. Lace is produced in the Valsesia. Alba is the centre of the white truffle and of course the local wines (Barolo, Barbera etc) should be tasted and purchased. Cuneo holds a market in the Piazza Galimberti every Tuesday.

Cultural highlights of Piemonte

Turin is laden with architectural treasures including the Palazzo Madama by Filippo Juvarra (now home to the Museo Civico d`Arte Antica which contains the 15th Century Portrait of an Unknown Man by Antonello da Messina), Guarini`s Palazzo Carignano, the Baroque buildings of the Piazza San Carlo.In Cuneo is the 18th Century Church of Santa Croce with a concave facade by Francesco Gallo. Vercelli had a school of art and its masterpieces can be seen in the Museo Civico Borgogna and in the Chuch of San Cristoforo are to be found frescoes and a 16th Century Madonna painted by Gaudenzio Ferrari. In the Palazzo Comunale of Alba is a painting of the Madonna and Child by the 16th Century artist Macrino d`Alba.The finest Romanesque buildings in Piemonte are to be found at the Abbey of Vezzolano at Albugnano.

Festivals in Piemonte

Many are linked to food and wine in this region. Asti holds an annual horse race in the Piazza del Campo del Palio, accompanied by mediaeval pageantry and coinciding with a local wine fair in September.

Gastronomy in Piemonte

Cuneo holds a cheese fair in November. Ivrea is famous for its Carnival celebrations including a Battle of Oranges. The region is renowed for its gastronomy and wine. Beef, cheese, butter, red wine, rice and truffles (particularly the white truffes of Alba) are all basic ingredients. Specialities include Manzo al Barolo (beef in red wine and garlic), Fonduta (hot dip of fontina cheese, milk, eggs, truffles and pepper), Bagna cauda (hot spicy sauce with garlic and anchovies), The wines of the region include Barolo, Barbaresco, Dolcetto.

Piemonte travel information

Tuscany is reached very easily from the UK by air and rail. We can arrange for you to travel by train with overnight stops. Some clients choose to take their own car all the way.

By air

Fly to Pisa (daily flights with British Airways from Heathrow), Bologna (daily flights with British Airways from Gatwick) or Florence (daily flights with British Airways from London City). Rome is also recommended for the hotels in southern Tuscany - there are numerous flights by British Airways from Heathrow as well as some regional departures. Most of the hotels in Tuscany are no more than two hours' drive from one of the airports.

Car hire

We include a hire-car with all our holidays to Piemonte. There is no additional charge for collecting your car from one place and returning it to another.

Rail travel

Piemonte is easily accessible by train from London by taking the Eurostar to Paris, and then a high speed train to Turin. You change trains in Turin and from here you can take another train, depending on your destination, or collect a hire-car which is the most practical way to explore the countryside of Piemonte.

Self-drive

With your own car Piemonte is an ideal region to holiday in with your own car. You can reach the region easily with just one overnight stop in France if you want.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

Our special interest holidays to Piemonte

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Call us on 01392 441245

Here you will find a map of Piemonte showing the locations of the hotels that we offer

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

Our special interest holidays to Piemonte

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday