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Voted No.1 in 2024 and No.2 in 2025 by Travel+Leisure A tapestry of vine-coated hills (more on those later) and medieval castles that you can actually stay in, Piedmont is nothing if not picturesque. Surrounded on three sides by the French and Swiss Alps, the region swings from tree-lined Turin, Italy’s first capital, to pretty towns that wouldn’t look out of place in a Disney movie and the grand villas of Lake Maggiore. In the centre, the Langhe rolls out in rows of vines that produce Barolo and Barbaresco, bold reds and some of the country’s most serious wines. And it just wouldn’t be Italy if there wasn’t something suitably delicious to combine with your glass. Here, it’s most likely to involve Alba’s famous white truffles, so prized they’re shaved like treasure over tajarin pasta in the (many) Michelin-star restaurants, or rich, hazelnut-dotted gianduja. It might be a little different to the rest of the country, but Piedmont is a region that deserves to be savoured just as slowly.
Stretching across Piedmont, Lombardy and even into Switzerland, Lake Maggiore is all about the quiet life (and definitely no celebrity spotting). It’s characterised by glacial mountain peaks and cold, deep, blue water, yet the camellias, azaleas and palms that spill from the terraces are a reminder of the surprisingly mild Mediterranean microclimate. Along the banks are grand villas and Belle Epoque hotels, charming towns and simple trattorias, and at the centre are the Borromean Islands, owned for centuries by one aristocratic family and still fabulously theatrical. Take a ferry from Stresa and hop between them; Isola Bella and the 17th century Palazzo Borromeo with its 10-tiered, peacock-filled gardens is Italy at its extravagant best, whilst Isola Madre is bountiful and botanical, and Isola dei Pescatori remains delightfully lived-in.
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