This article covers Turin, vineyard areas of Barbaresco and Monferrato with a mention of Alba, as well as Varallo, Orta San Giulio, and Ivrea in the Italian region of Piedmont (Piemonte). All can be visited on day trips from Milan.
Torino (Turin)
I suspect that anyone hailing from the capital of Piedmont would expressly hate me for implying that their city can only be visited on a day trip from a rival metropolis. It is a matter of fact, though, that Turin is likely to struggle to appear on any list of recommended top places to visit in Italy, and our familiarity with it is solely via a single intraday visit from Milan.
For a city this size, Turin is no more than middling in terms of impressions. The nice features are too few and far between, even though occasional impressive ensembles do pop up.
There are three stately squares that are nice to linger at: Piazza San Carlo, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, and Piazza Castello. The latter is home to several major sights in town. Palazzo Madama offers an impressive palatial main floor, plus an interesting collection of decorative and baroque art. There are good views of the central sights from the tower. The ornate church of San Lorenzo is well worth a visit, with a circular plan and a geometrically patterned cupola (visiting times are limited to the afternoon only).
Palazzo Reale is considered one of the top attractions in Turin. We heard from a few people who had visited that they did not consider it remarkable, so upon seeing the long ticket lines, we turned around.
Several palaces in and around Turin form a serial World Heritage site called Royal Houses of Savoy, including the aforementioned Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama. We also stopped to admire the exterior and the courtyard of Palazzo Carignano, home to Museo di Risorgimento, which should appeal to Italian history buffs. Despite my WH-chase bona fides, we did not go into any of the other palaces beyond Palazzo Madama.
We also took the briefest of looks inside the Duomo, due to a service in progress. Nothing of surpassing quality could be discerned from that look, even though the dome of the cathedral, when seen from the tower of Palazzo Madama, appeared quite exquisite.
Quite a few churches in town sport beautiful exteriors, enlivening the landscape. Basilica Corpus Domini, not far from the cathedral, is quite rich on the interior as well. Church of Gran Madre di Dio, across the bridge from Piazza Vittorio Veneto, is likely worth a look as well. Behind it is a fantastic local flea market.
Another of the top attractions in Turin is the remarkable Museum of Cinema, which offers an extensive exhibition on the history of cinematography and a number of themed exhibits. You could easily spend a day here. The highlight is a jaw-dropping Temple Hall in the atrium of Mole Antonelliana, one of the symbolic edifices of the city, with cinema-like rows of seats to watch music videos and movie clips. There are hundreds of interactive displays for children of all ages throughout the museum. You can also ascend to the lantern of the tower, which requires standing in a separate line for over an hour.
Piedmont Vineyards
The vineyards of Piedmont are a serial World Heritage property comprised of half a dozen clusters. The farthest from Milan, Langhe of Barolo, remains a target for another day, as are destinations such as Castello di Grinzane Cavour.
When you are in the area, you are likely to just drive through the gorgeous landscapes and stop by individual wineries and pretty villages for an occasional tasting.
Barbaresco is very picturesque when viewed from the main approach road, but turns out to be no more than just ok once you reach its center. The biggest attraction is the sweeping views from Torre di Barbaresco, and wine tasting at the Enoteca Barbaresco.
Nearby Neive is a lovely postcard-size village, a member of the “Most Beautiful Villages of Italy” association. Two main churches provide key highlights: a fairly impressive SS. Pietro e Paolo, and the Macedonian Orthodox church dedicated to Archangel Michael, with a somewhat unusual curved altar screen.
Cella Monte is one of the principal locations of the Monferrato of the Infernot, another key wine-producing cluster, and another member of the I Borghi più belli d’Italia association, although probably not as pretty as Neive. This part of the wine country is characterized by the infernots, wine cellars built into the rock underground. With some advance preparation, you can tour a few with a guide from the local Ecomuseo. I instead spent time at Cinque Quinti, a winery estate with the visitor center within the village proper, which gave me an hour-long tour of their own infernot followed by a very nice unhurried tasting.
Additionally, although not part of the core area of the WH property, Alba is a charming larger town that can be used as a base for a multi-day stay in the area. It lacks a killer feature, but Sunday markets make it more lively, and several churches – especially, Chiesa di San Domenico and Cattedrale di San Lorenzo – are worth checking out. The mid-autumn Truffle Market requires an entrance fee to enter, which probably limits it solely to connoisseurs.
Varallo
A series of nine calvaries is recognized on the World Heritage list as Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy. You don’t need to be a Christian in order to appreciate the beauty of these architectural ensembles.
The Sacro Monte of Varallo is the grandest of them all, a holistic complex of 46 chapels that charts the last days of Christ. Each chapel hosts a life-size diorama, with statues in front of the painted backgrounds representing a key event in Christ’s story. The somewhat inferior nature of the art is compensated by the overall scale; the main drawback is that all chapels are fronted by grilles and wire meshes, making it hard to see the full scenes from a single viewpoint (maybe, that’s the point – you stay longer in front of each one trying to see the entire scene). The basilica is impressive in its own right, with three-dimensional altar decorations akin to chapel scenes.
The complex is best reached by a funicular that operates on demand during the day, even for just a single rider.
Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, near the lower funicular station, is not to be missed, with a very impressive altar partition, unusual for Catholic churches.
Beyond that, Varallo is a lively village, especially on a market day, but without any superior features to villages elsewhere.
Orta San Giulio
Sacro Monte of Orta is more park-like and spread out than Varallo, with about twenty free-standing chapels that chart the life and deeds of St Francis of Assisi. The chapels are grander than in Varallo, better painted, and in many cases more accessible (but still viewed through grilles), but the complex does not feel as homogeneous. The main church is much less impressive. On the other hand, there are fantastic elevated views of Lake Orta. There is also a small botanical garden, an unfinished grand “new” chapel, and overall, the parkland nature of the place makes for nice walks all around.
Orta San Giulio at the foot of the mountain is a lovely lakeside village, very compact and picturesque. San Rocco is a small church worth stepping into. Views of the island in the middle of the lake are the main part of the attraction on the waterfront.
The Isola San Giulio itself is serene and pretty as well, but basically is all about the eponymous Basilica, which boasts incredible frescoes and a number of gorgeous details. The walk around the island on the “Silent Way” takes no more than 10 minutes – there are a few picturesque corners, but hardly anything of note. You should be able to get around the island, including admiring the basilica, in the space of 30 minutes between two scheduled shuttle boat services.
Ivrea
Another of the UNESCO sites in the region, Ivrea is among the least impressive World Heritage properties anywhere. Designed as a “company town” in the mid-20th century, all it has is a few industrial buildings of little distinction – and nothing else of note.