Piemonte Area in Italy

Be aware that if you stay in the countryside, like the Langhe or Monferrato areas, where Alba is located, a rental car might be more efficient.
For flight info, consider also checking flights into the larger Milan Malpensa airport (airport code: MXP), the second largest in Italy. The Milan Malpensa airport is practically at the border with Piemonte, about half way between Milan and Turin.

Some tourism info resources on the region are below.
http://www.piemonteitalia.eu/en/-turismo.html
http://www.piemonte-turismo.it/en/
http://www.langheroero.it/index.jsp?idProgetto=2
http://www.illagomaggiore.com/en_US/home
http://www.turismotorino.org/index.aspx

Alba was a great base for us, when we visited L Langhe. One of the small towns nearby is the motherhouse of the Slow Food movement. Another (Barolo?) houses a consortium of local wine producers in a castle, and it offers tastings with food accompaniments. Sorry to be vague about town names, but we were there about 15 years ago.
Alba, itself, has a lovely duomo, good restaurants, and wonderful food shops.

Hello
Spent a wonderful time there last year.
No Roman ruins in Piedmonte, just lots of good food and wine.

Would stay in the wine region. You will need a car, so plan on that.

We stayed at Castello di Sino
http://www.hotelcastellodisinio.com/en/index.php
Which is a higher end hotel worth the $. with wonderful customer service, and a great restaurant. Can't recommend enough.
Schedule times to visit wineries, small towns, and get lost in the area. Enjoy!
If you are there in October check out the "Truffle Festival" and "Donkey Races" in Alba. One of the best times we had in Europe in all of our travels.
john

Hello
Spent a wonderful time there last year.
No Roman ruins in Piedmonte, just lots of good food and wine.

Would stay in the wine region. You will need a car, so plan on that.

We stayed at Castello di Sino
http://www.hotelcastellodisinio.com/en/index.php
Which is a higher end hotel worth the $. with wonderful customer service, and a great restaurant. Can't recommend enough.
Schedule times to visit wineries, small towns, and get lost in the area. Enjoy!
If you are there in October check out the "Truffle Festival" and "Donkey Races" in Alba. One of the best times we had in Europe in all of our travels.
john

I'm going in a few weeks to Asti for their Palio horse race. I already did the one in Siena and want to check Asti's out. I'll have more info about the region in a few weeks after visiting.

I did setup a tour the first day with http://www.meetpiemonte.com/ into the countryside. Marco has been real helpful with assistance and questions and recommendations. Personally I like a tour first vs just driving on the streets. Then go back to visit area's the next day in the country you want.

John, there are Roman ruins in Piemonte, including Susa and parts of Torino itself (towers, gates, walls).

Kyle, have a look at some other guidebooks (Michelin, Lonely Planet) for things the RS books don't cover. It's an interesting area. Asti is very popular but there are lots of small towns, Cuneo might be interesting.

(Albi is in France, by the way - probably a typo for Alba?)

Thanks to the local glory Pertinace, who became Emperor after Commodo, there are underground Roman ruins in Alba. The Tourism Office in Piazza Duomo will tell you how to join a tour.

In Turin only one of the gates on the Roman walls is still standing, but there isn't much more left to see. It was just a garrison town.

I recommend going to Alba if you are going in October. They have a month-long truffle festival in October. Do not miss the Medieval Costume Parade which is held on the first Saturday in October in Alba. (There is a website.) The rest of the month there is tasting hall, where you can taste cheeses, wines, chocolates etc from Piemonte, and it is not to be missed. I believe that is on weekends only. The town will be crowded but not unmanageable.

The only hotel I have stayed in in the town of Alba is the Hotel Savona. It is OK, we had a very small room, real plain. It does have a locked parking area if you will have a car with you. Mostly we stay in small hill towns at B&B's. So much better than a hotel in town. There is plenty of parking in Alba so you don't have to worry about that if you are driving. We stayed at Bricco dei Cogni in Rivalta (near La Morra) and loved it. Check out their website.

As far as day trips the town of Cherasco is nice. Do not miss the Ravera Chocolate shop. Barolo is, of course, known for Barolo wine. There is a cute corkscrew museum there that is interesting. La Morra is nice and they have a wine consortium there where, on certain days, you can taste many of the wines inexpensively. Castiglione di Falletto has a very good restaurant called Le Torri. In Alba I have been to Osteria dell'Arco which was reasonably priced and very good, but not as good as some of the meals I have had in the smaller towns. Verduno (near Rivalta) has a wonderful restaurant called Trattoria dei Bercau that has no menu. They just come around with platters of antipasti and you either take one or not. Then they will tell you what the choices are for primi and secondi. You eat as much or as little as you want. There is a website.

Thank you, thank you to everyone! So much great information to work with. All of your suggestions will keep me busy for a while. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I put the trip together. Many thanks!!

Kyle - Piedmonte is gorgeous and less touristy than other wine areas of Italy. My wife and I biked for 8 days through the area in 2012 and consider it the best of the 5 trips we've taken to Italy. We always visit in mid September, and the weather has been perfect (mid 70s F)
For accommodations, both the Relais Villa d' Amelia in Benevello and the Villa Beccaris in Monteforte d'Alba are first rate. For restaurants, I would highly recommend Da Felecin in Monteforte (also a hotel) and the Castello in Grinzane Cavour. Both are Michelin starred.
If you want to taste at the wineries, it's best to make appointments in advance. Most tastings will be more formal then in the States.
They will expect you to buy at least one bottle. Some offer shipping. Both the towns of Barbaresco and Barolo have multiple tasting rooms where you can sample different producers.
Hope this helps, and have a great trip

You didn't mention how long you'll be staying in Piedmont. I agree with posters above that the Langhe region is the key must-visit (Alba, Cherasco, La Morra, Barolo are great, and also Nieve). But if you have more time, Turin itself and areas west and north of Turin are also incredible. The two places I insisted on seeing this summer were Lake Orta (north) and Avigliana (west). At Lake Orta, if you go, stay at Il Cucchiaio di Legno. Or, at least eat there - best meal of my seven week trip. Just outside of Avigliana, I stayed at an ex-monastery called Certosa1515. The peace and serenity were wonderful, and the views, the hikes and the food were outstanding. Plus, it's a really interesting story of how it was renovated and its programs fighting the Mafia today. Just up (and up) the mountain from Certosa1515 is Sacra San Michele, a pilgrimage abbey for a thousand years. It is the symbol of Piedmont and a unique place to visit. It was nearly empty when we were there (after the camp kids left) and it was one of the top activities/sights of the trip for me.

Turin is also a great city to visit; I've been twice and still haven't done enough. So while I do agree with the others that the Langhe should be your first stop, here are a few other suggestions if you have a bit more time.