The Langhe is an area famous for its food and wine, not least Barolo and the white truffles of Alba
With some of the shortest travel times between Italy and the UK, Piedmont sits tucked up in Italy’s northwest corner, with France and Switzerland as its neighbours. It’s a clean, sophisticated and well-run sort of place, where everything works and life flows along in a contented and orderly fashion. It’s also a physically very beautiful part of the world. The buildings show the usual Italian flair for design and the landscapes lift the heart, with celestial Alps rising in the north and west and vinecovered hills rolling across the south.
This hilly south is worth special gastronomic mention, as it’s down here that many of Italy’s very best wines and foodstuffs are produced. Some people say it’s the finest corner of the whole world for eating and drinking. White truffles and Barolo wines are among the local specialities, but so is perfect cooking. Southern Piedmont has long had the greatest density of Michelin-starred restaurants of any comparatively-sized area on the planet. The Slow Food and Slow Cities movements both began in this area, which should tell you how highly Piedmont values the art of living well.