Getaways from Turin: day trips and destinations close by.

Malpensa has more flights, but is an hour further from the Langhe

There are direct flights to Turin-Caselle airport (TRN) from Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Seville and Málaga. Milan Malpensa has more routes from Spain, but for the Langhe it adds almost an hour's drive. Between the two cities there is a Frecciarossa in an hour.

The city is toured on foot, by metro and by tram; the centre is flat and compact. To head for the hills, the hire car is picked up at the airport or in the city, and the route is the motorway towards Alba and, from there, narrow, winding hill roads. Alba has a train from Turin, which serves the city and the fair, but Barolo, Monforte, Grinzane and Serralunga have no useful public transport: without a car, a taxi or a transfer with a driver. If you are going to taste wine, have whoever does not drink drive. The rest of the region, with Lake Maggiore and the Alps, is on the Piedmont page.

The Langhe, close enough to return in a day and full enough for two nights

Everything that leaves Turin in the same place is in the Langhe, the vine-covered hills of southern Piedmont, a World Heritage Site for their wine landscape since 2014. They are close enough to go and return in a day and full enough to stay two nights.

60 minutes away, Alba. The white truffle day in Alba starts at Piobesi d'Alba with a hunt in the woods with a trifolao and dogs, continues with 40-yolk tajarin in an osteria in the centre and ends at the fair's world market. You are back in Turin around 19:00.

65 minutes away, Barolo. The Sunday in Barolo combines the wine museum in Falletti castle, the Marchesi di Barolo winery, lunch in a Monforte trattoria open since 1875 and Grinzane Cavour castle in the afternoon.

With two nights, the Langhe in two nights, also an hour away: the first in the centre of Alba and the second among vineyards beside Barolo, with the truffle hunt, the two castles, the Fontanafredda cellars in Serralunga and the wine museum before heading back.

The weekends of the white truffle fair

Autumn is the season of the Langhe. September and October bring the harvest and the colour of the vines. From 10 October to 6 December 2026, Alba holds its white truffle fair, and the truffle day is designed for those weekends; the plan's osteria is open on Sunday in October and November. It is also when accommodation fills up most: book weeks ahead.

The two-night getaway runs from March to November, when the Vergne country house is open; in December it can be done by sleeping both nights in Alba. The Sunday in Barolo is open all year, although Grinzane castle is closed on Tuesdays and the trattoria on Thursdays. In July and August the plain is hot and many Turin restaurants close for part of August. In winter the hills have fog and the snow is in the Alps.

The truffle hunt is booked weeks ahead

• A fair day, in autumn: the white truffle day in Alba. Book the hunt weeks ahead: it is confirmed by email.
• Any Sunday of the year: Barolo, with the museum at the 10:30 opening.
• A weekend between September and November: the Langhe in two nights, with the fair on Sunday afternoon if it coincides.