Piedmont: Alba vrs. Gavi/NoviLigure as a base?

Will you have a car available? Five days in Alba is a lot, for sure, but switching to Gavi doesn't add variety. The area south of Gavi to Genoa is very mountainous and travel is slow and there are not a lot of attractions. I don't think grabbing a train will be as quick and easy as you hope. I'd suggest looking northward. Piedmont architecture is fascinating, and the palaces of the Savoy are wonderful. Bra is an interesting city, and the Turin area has some super attractions, such as the 'hunting lodge' at Stupinigi.

Stresa and Alba sounds like a great plan. Were this couple who “are not into wineries” part of of the planning from the beginning? You don’t have to sample the wines to enjoy this beautiful less touristed area. We enjoyed driving to the different villages, having lunch and returning to Alba for dinner. Have they been to Tuscany? Take away the crowds and you have the Piemonte.
Forget that other plan for Gavi! Camogli is a wonderful spot to stay by the sea but the Piemonte is very special. Because we were driving, I don’t remember doing wine tastings on day trips except one time and food was served with it. . We bought a bottle of wine here or there.

So glad to hear your feedback. Okay, so Camogli is out.
The intention is to rent a car at Malpensa for Piedmont. (Private transfer to and from Stresa)
Or private transfer to Alba and then rent locally as needed.
You are wise…this couple was not part of the initial plan. And neither do I drink at all. but we so loved Tuscany, we thought we would enjoy Piedmont too.
Five nights too much for Langhe region? So far we have first day arriving, checking in and doing the town, second day is one with Alba Wine Tours, third day doing other towns, hmmm.
Feel free to change my itinerary…we did not want to turn this trip into a fly/drive jumping fromplace to place…cappucinos, gelato, small towns are good.
Since I have you…,videos online are notdoing Neive and La Morra justice yet many are recommending thrm as a good base.I have Guarene in mind…charming beautiful small Inn…..bad choice?

Neive is very tiny with nearly no services. La Morra is small but with nice views and several restaurants. As you are staying several days, I'd look for accomodation on the periphery of the historic center of Alba so you can walk to restaurants and also have some parking choices.

We spent 6 nights in Alba in 2018 and found plenty to do --- plus you can go into Torino for the opera or great museums (in particular, the Egyptian museum and the car museum). With a car, you can get to many places easily, for instance it's less than an hour to Saluzzo to see Castello della Manta, a castle we liked very much, especially the painted walls in the rooms. One depicts the fountain of youth: https://www.wanderingitaly.com/blog/article/1092/manta-castle

There is lots to do in Piemonte besides drink wine. There are many castles, pretty towns, good food, and seeing the beautiful countryside (which we saw in late November).

We spent 3 nights in La Morra and visited Neive --- yes, nice but too small for a good base.

If I were you, I would take the 2-hour bus straight from the airport to Torino, then rent a car and drive the short distance to Alba. Or, better yet, train from Torino to Alba, get a good night's sleep, and go get the car the next day when you're not so tired and jet-lagged. Another reason to do that is it will take a big car or even a van to fit 6 people and their luggage --- using public transportation from MXP to Alba will avoid your having to rent the bigger car or van.

A bit of advice about traveling with other couples. First of all, you will need a large car for 6. You can check on AutoEurope for costs, availability. etc. It might actually be better to have two vehicles. Which brings me to a second bit of advice. Traveling with other couples can be challenging. You may discover unexpected characteristics about your friends. If you have two cars, there will always be the possibility of independence. That can save hard feelings when there are disagreements about daily plans.

Thanks, everyone. SO appreciate this info. Even though we are not going til 2023, we are nailing down our accommodations when we get together next month..we have quotes already.... and then flights in November.
Mike...Yes, We have the rates for Hotel Calissano which is on the periphery of the town and seems handy for a couple of nights. But we are tempted to do more of a splurge the last couple. check out Il Cortile san Michele in Guarene...quiet town but super close to everything and seemingly great ambiance. Lovely rooms. Worth it? Montforte d"Alba would be the other splurge but villa Beccaris has nothing available and we don't wish to pay $500 CAD nightly.
Getting to Alba: We would be coming from Toronto so a direct flight with Air Canada to Milan would be best, no? I do hear Turin's airport is easy peasy. But that would make the private transfer to Stresa a bit more complicated. Either way, we have to work it out.
Travel with others: we are all family and will need to make it work. We have travelled together before but In totally hear you.
Car rental: We would definitely rent two cars.

If I may add a question...we are going to choose our dates next months even though the flights are not out yet. Who knows what can happen in this world but what day do you suggest is the best to fly out from North America to Milan...(Toronto)...are midweeks best or does it really matter?

We flew from Toronto to Milan the last time we went to Piedmont in 2019. And it was pretty straight forward to then get to our base city, which was Alba. We are returning to Piedmont in September of this year (2022) and will once again be staying in Alba for the Piedmont portion of our trip. Alba is a great place to use as a base. It's easy to get to other towns, whether you drive or take trains. We also love that Alba has some great restaurants and wine bars, so in the evenings you can stroll around town without having to worry about driving - especially if you want to taste wines.

Depending on what you enjoy, there is also the Saturday market, a nice Piazza to people watch and easy access to the train stations and the roads to elsewhere. Nearby towns like Bra, Neive and Asti are close by for half or full day sight-seeing and of, course, there are so many wineries to visit that are beautiful - even if you don't drink.

As for days to fly out, we have found Wednesday or Thursday to be good days.

PS.. Consider going in September - white truffles abound and go so well with the regions wines.

Thank you. Do you rent a car when you go? How is the driving? And the weather mid September? Where in Alba doyou usually stay? Okay, enough questions.

We opted not to drive in Piedmont as we were visiting wineries and didn't want to drive when drinking. We had a driver for the tastings and the roads were not too crowded given that it was late September and grapes were being harvested.

We rented an AirBnB in Alba. There were two couples and we both had our own places. Literally a five minute walk to each other. Could have shared one place, but we wanted our privacy and the ability to be away from each other for a bit. (Consider that when traveling with friends).

We were there the last week of September into the first week of October - just before the truffle festival.

Weather was gorgeous. Mid 70's.