Smart Guide Italy: Turin, Piedmont and Aosta Valley: Smart Guide Italy, #7

By Alexei Cohen

Smart Guide Italy is the only digital travel guide that covers all of Italy's regions and is written, researched, and investigated by full-time residents. Each title in the series provides insights to the most important monuments and useful information for eating, drinking, sleeping and having a good time in Italy. Visitors no longer have to lug around heavy guides with irrelevent chapters. With Smart Guide Italy you can focus entirely on the city and region you want to visit.

Smart Guide is the first independent travel publisher to offer digital guides to all of Italy's regions. We also operate a convenient online accommodation service which allows travelers to get an insider's perspective on Italy, lower their CO2 impact and save substantially.

Other titles in the Smart Guide Italy series include:
Rome and Lazio
Florence and Tuscany
Venice and Veneto
Milan and Lombardy
Naples and Campania
Grand Tour: Rome, Florence, Venice & Naples

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alexei Cohen
• Release date: Apr 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476421902

Alexei Cohen

I fell in love with Italy while watching the movie La Strada in the basement of my university library. Since then I have met and married an Italian, written and edited several guides and enjoyed a lot of pasta, wine and gelato. I live with my family on the outskirts of Rome and cultivate my passion for Italy a little more everyday. Moon Rome, Florence & Venice is my latest book and a result of months of exploration. I look forward to sharing what I have discovered and meeting travelers in Rome to swap stories over a cappuccino.

Book preview

Smart Guide Italy: Turn, Piedmont and Aosta Valley

Published by Smart Guides

Smashwords 2nd Edition

Copyright 2024 Smart Guide Italy

Other titles in the Smart Guide Italy series:

Cities & Regions

Rome & Lazio

Florence & Tuscany

Genova & Liguria

Turin, Piedmont & Aosta

Milan & Lombardy

Trentino-Alto Adige

Venice & Veneto

Bologna & Emilia Romagna

Le Marche

Umbria

Naples & Campania

Abruzzo & Molise

Basilicata & Clabria

Sicily

Sardinia

Multiple Regions

Northern Italy

Central Italy

Southern Italy

Italian Islands

Italy

Cities

Northern Italian Cities

Central Italian Cities

Southern Italian Cities

Grand Tour: Rome, Florence, Venice & Naples

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CONTENTS

FOREWARD

Introducing Piedmont & Aosta

Top Stops

Planning

TURIN

Sights

Entertainment & Events

Festivals

Shopping

Sports & Recreation

Food

Accommodations

Information & Services

Getting There

Getting Around

Around Turin

ALPI COZIE

Saluzzo

Cuneo

THE LANGHE

Alba

Asti

San Michele

Susa

AOSTA VALLEY

Aosta

Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso

Courmayer

FOREWARD

Piedmont and Aosta Valley aren’t the first destinations that come to mind when planning a trip to Italy. They aren’t even the second or the third or anywhere on the top ten list but they are certainly interesting and original regions with lower profiles than Tuscany, Lombardy or Veneto and with far less visitors.

What you get here above all is well-preserved small towns, great food and an abundance of nature. In fact it’s ideal for hikers in summer, skiers in winter and wine lovers all year long. Mountains cover a large portion of the territory and the valleys in between are home to unique local traditions, dishes and even dialects. The only major city is Turin, the birthplace of Italy, and a good place to start an exploration of the area. If this is your first time in Italy be prepared to be surprised, if it isn’t get ready for something unlike anything else you’ve seen.

Enjoy the journey!

Alexei Cohen

Series Editor

INTRODUCING PIEDMONT & AOSTA

The landscapes of Piedmont and Aosta Valley are dramatically different from anything else in Italy. Here the Alps are a constant background and there are more peaks than people. One-quarter of the population is concentrated in Turin, leaving a lot of unspoiled countryside to explore. The Italian conservation movement began here and Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso was the first national park in the country.

The western edge of both regions is bordered by snowcapped mountains that provide a natural border with France. Altitude hasn’t prevented cultural exchange and many of the small Alpine villages have been profoundly influenced by the transalpini (as the French are known). Language, architecture, and cuisine all have a Gallic touch and for hundreds of years the Kingdom of Savoy ruled the area. The region’s noble origins are evident in castles, sanctuaries, abbeys, and churches that dot the landscape. In between are vine-covered hills that have been a feature of the countryside for centuries and yield some of the most prestigious wines in Italy.

Italy’s longest river starts with a trickle 3,841 meters up Mount Monviso. The Po eventually flows through Turin and across the Padana plain that is the source of the country’s finest grapes and much of its rice production. Travelers with an appetite will soon discover that risotto dishes outnumber pasta in Piedmont.

Piedmont isn’t just agriculture though. The region has an industrial tradition that predates anything in Lombardy. Turin is home to Fiat and factories have been churning out cars since the 1900s. It’s a contrast to the traditional costumes worn during carnival and slate-covered lodges tucked into the sides of Aosta. That doesn’t seem to bother locals, who balance innovation with age-old traditions. They’re less likely to be sipping cappuccino than the hot chocolate recipes Piedmontese lips have long preferred.

Ancient festivals include the Palio of Asti and Carnival of Ivrea, where locals have hurled oranges at each other for hundreds of years. No one needs much encouragement to don brightly colored costumes and partake in processions or plays. Specialties revolve around a few typical products, none of which is more treasured than the truffle. In autumn, specially trained dogs scour the forests searching for this underground delicacy that’s used in dozens of local recipes.

Asti and Monferrato are the premiere wine producing areas but the entire region is renown and grape varieties like barbera and dolcetto have a different flavor depending on the province. Other specialties include grissini (breadsticks), invented in the late 17th century for delicate aristocratic stomachs; Vermouth, created in 1786 by Antonio Benedetto Carpano; and Fernet liquor, first distilled in 1865.

The Aosta Valley region is embedded within the Alps. There are no plains, no hills, only high peaks and narrow valleys with small towns that grow incrementally during the winter season when the skiers arrive. The tallest mountain of all is the Monte Bianco; at 4,807 meters, it towers over everything else in Western Europe. The Romans colonized the region relatively late and few legionnaires volunteered to be garrisoned here. Aosta started out as an outpost and the largest town has retained an ancient amphitheater and triumphal entrance. Culture, however, isn’t the main draw.

Italians come to escape the pollution of cities and strap on their skis or hiking boots. Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, which straddles the two regions, is a wilderness of breathtaking mountains and meadows. Resorts like Cogne and Courmayeur are worldclass winter destinations with modern lifts and Heidi-like chalets where snow-lovers come to spend their winter holidays.

HISTORY

Piedmont and the Aosta Valley are cold in winter and were the last places a Roman legionnaire wanted to be stationed. That probably explains why they weren’t fully colonized until the age of Augustus and why Paleolithic predecessors spent most of the time in caves near Monfenera. When the empire stuttered, Goth, Ostrogoth, and Lombard tribes eagerly took over. In those days the land was divided in dukedoms and many religious orders founded abbeys like the Abbazia di Novalesa in the quest for converts.

Carlo Magno (Charles the Great) defeated the Lombards in 773 and he used the Via Francigena to surprise his enemy. The road later served as a vital pilgrim route and increased cultural exchange dramatically. After the decline of the Franks and the development of a mercantile class in the Middle Ages, cities like Turin, Novara, and Asti began to rule themselves autonomously. This period of independence was short-lived as outside threats from Federico Barbarossa forced towns to unite with Lombardy. Around this time the Savoys began their rise to power and by the treaty of Cateau-Cambrèsis in 1559 they ruled most of modern-day Piedmont and Aosta Valley.

Italy owes a small debt to Piedmont and the country might not exist if it weren’t for this region. It’s where the Risorgimento movement started and the idea of a united Italy was hatched. Patriots like Garibaldi, Cavour, and Mazzini met to discus their vision in Turin and after three wars they eventually achieved their goal in 1861.

TOP STOPS

Cattedrale di San Giovanni and Holy Shroud

Torino’s duomo contains one of the country’s most famous relics, the Holy Shroud, which is believed to be the sheet that covered Christ after his crucifixion. It attracts a regular stream of pilgrims and skeptics.

Mole Antonelliana

The Mole is Torino’s most symbolic sight. Its long, narrow dome can be seen from every angle of the city, as well as on the Italian two-cent coin. Enjoy remarkable vistas of the Alps from the building’s rooftop terrace.

Egyptian Museum

During the 19th century, when mummies were the rage, Italian archeologists combed the deserts in search of ancient Egyptian tombs. What they uncovered is now a world-class collection of Egyptian artifacts.

Market Day in Cuneo

Nearly every town in Italy has a market, but this one fills up a square the size of a football field with everything from mushrooms to mandolins. The real fun is watching the animated sellers using the oldest marketing tool of them all: their loud, melodic voices.

Palio di Asti

This lively festival and horse race takes place every year in mid-September and has been held since the 13th century. A colorful parade in Piazza Alfieri with over 1,000 participants in historic Renaissance costume precedes the race.

Aosta

The town of Aosta has some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in Northern Italy and has long been called the Rome of the North by archeologists. Some must-see sights are the ancient Porta Pretoria, the entrance to town, and the well-preserved facade of the Roman amphitheater, still a wonderful venue to see a concert.

Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso

Italy’s first national park has remained unspoiled and as the name suggests is a paradise for hikers, cross-country skiers, and naturalists. A no-nonsense network of mountain refuges helps visitors get face-to-face with wilderness that covers both regions and extends all the way to the French border.

La Palud Cableway

Ski lifts and cable cars are a common sight across the region. They’re a great form of transportation and none provides more adrenaline than the La Palud cableway over the Alps into France. It climbs 3,842 meters above sea level and provides an unrivaled view of the Alps.

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PLANNING

Piedmont and the Aosta Valley are tucked in the northwest corner of Italy. Their location makes them first or last stops in the country, rather than pit stops between other regions. Turin is in the center and by far the largest city. If you like museums it will take several days to visit them all. The highways from Genoa and Milan make reaching the regional capital convenient, and from there the Aosta Valley is about an hour away.

Both regions are for people who prefer mountain landscapes. There’s no sea here unless you count glaciers as oceans. Unlike regions with a coastline,