Routes · Europe

Johannesburg to Piedmont: Turin and the Langhe

Johannesburg → Turin → Langhe (Alba)

Royal palaces, chocolate cafés & hill vineyards Best season (general guide): Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov

Piedmont, in north-west Italy, sits at the foot of the Alps, with an elegant royal capital and some of Italy's most famous wine hills. This route spends three nights in Turin and three in the Langhe. From Johannesburg you'll connect through a European or Gulf hub to Turin.

How to pace it: Spend days one to three in Turin: day one, Piazza Castello and the Royal Palace; day two, Egyptian Museum; day three, Mole Antonelliana and a café crawl. Then spend days four to six in Langhe (Alba): day four, drive to Alba; day five, Barolo villages and a winery; day six, truffle market or a hill walk.

Turin's arcaded streets and squares are lined with historic cafés, where bicerin, a layered drink of coffee, chocolate and cream, is a speciality.

Visit the Museo Egizio, one of the most important collections of Egyptian antiquities outside Egypt. The Mole Antonelliana, a tall spire on the skyline, houses the National Cinema Museum.

South of the city, the Langhe is a landscape of vineyards and hilltop villages, listed by UNESCO with Roero and Monferrato.

Stay in Alba, the main town, famous for white truffles, celebrated at a fair in autumn.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with autumn the time of the grape harvest and truffles.

Practical notes: a car or driver is best in the Langhe, and wineries usually need booking. If you drive, have someone else do the tasting, or use a local tour.

Turin is less visited than other Italian cities, so you'll often find the museums calm. In the Langhe, plan one or two winery visits a day at most and leave time for a long lunch in a hill village. In autumn, mist often fills the valleys in the morning, a good time for photographs from the ridge roads. Book a room in Alba itself if you prefer to walk to dinner.

In Turin, a museum card can make sense if you plan several visits. Grissini, thin breadsticks, are said to come from the city.

Safety: Canada's advice for Italy is to exercise a high degree of caution (updated 29 September 2026).

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