Piedmont: Land of Barolo and Barbera

A wonderful week. Well organised, nice hotels and a great walking app.

This was an excellent week with lots of walking, terrific views and great food. It is easy to make the walking days suit your physical ability through shortcuts and taxis. That said there are some long days, with lots of altitude ups and downs. Towards the end of the week some trails have been worn down by mountain bikes and water, making them rocky, uneven and steep. Most villages have some options for food, but towards the end of the week several have very little available. We found that on some days there was little to do in towns other than walk and eat at the hotel we stayed at. For some this was perfect, and for others a disappointment as we wanted to do some shopping, hear music, go to a pub...and these were not available.

Walked through some really great areas of the Piedmont with lots of opportunities for great lunches. The majority of the hotels were nice. The hotel and restaurant in Cissone was especially nice, very happy to have spent two days there. The fifth day of the hike from Cissone to Cravanzana was a little rough, the trails had ruts and lots of rocks. However, overall, wonderful trip!

It was good to be "off the beaten track" -- away from crowds, in smaller places. The places we stayed were terrific, and the meals -- the reason we came here -- wonderful.

We loved our walking trip the land of Barolo and Barbera. We learnt an enormous amount about the Piedmont and experienced firsthand the vineyards and wineries of the area. The scenery was amazing. The walk was easy to intermediate but we had some extremely hot weather which was unexpected, making the walk more challenging, but without the heat it would’ve been a very pleasant and manageable walk. Accommodation along the way was terrific. The transfers and other administrative aspects of the walk went incredibly smoothly. The last hotel was amazing with Carlo the owner of the restaurant and hotel being an amazing chef and host. But many others were wonderful as well. The accomodation and restaurant in Cissone was also worthy of special comment. The trip notes said it may be possible to buy lunch along the way but it is generally best to be prepared with your own food. Sometimes there is nothing available or open. We would highly recommend the trip. We went back over the route by car two weeks later which expanded our knowledge and understanding and love of the area.