Italian Bed and Breakfast, Piedmont, close to the town of Asti, Piemonte

This Italian Bed and Breakfast, Piedmont, lies close to the town of Asti, Piemonte. Villa Sampaguita is a bed and breakfast, located on a working vineyard and winery in the heart of Piedmont's wine country, and has four deluxe suites.

Asti is a natural jumping off point for tours of the Monferrato, Langhe and Roero wine districts, and your hosts can arrange or recommend tour agendas including visits to wineries specializing in Barolo, Barbera, Barbaresco, Moscato D'Asti and other fabulous wines of this region.

Asti is almost halfway between the cities of Turin and Milan, and is an easy drive to the Alps, Val D'Aosta, Lakes Maggiore and Como to the North and to the Mediterranean port of Genoa and the Ligurian Riviera to the south. Pisa and its famous tower is about a three-hour drive on the autostrada. This Italian Bed and Breakfast, Piedmont is only five minutes from the Asti autostada exit, and the closest airports are Turin (50 minutes), Milan (Linate, Malpenza) (75 minutes) and Genoa (60 minutes).

Thirty kilometres south of the town of Asti, Piemonte, lies its rival city, Alba, another old city with roots going back to Roman times. As well as being the centre for the famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines, Alba is an important town for the chocolate industry. Alba is also famous for Tartuffi Bianchi (white truffles) and has a weekend market in October and November attracting many tourists.

Aqui Terme is another Roman town and, given its natural hot springs, must have been a favourite for weary legionnaires. The town has two natural 'terme' or spa facilities, a huge outdoor swimming pool, a very smart shopping street, and exudes the relaxed feeling of a spa town. Aqui Terme is within easy reach of this Italian Bed and Breakfast, Piedmont.

The Langhe, Roero and Monferrato region is sprinkled with hilltop villages each with its own castle, a reminder of the days when Piedmont was on the route of armies marching between Italy and France, a tradition which started with Hannibal, included Napoleon and only ceased with Italian unification under the House of Savoy. Each town has its own beautifully decorated church, and boasts an 'enoteca' (wine store) and at least one excellent restaurant.

And lying close to the town of Asti, Piemonte, you'll want to visit Agliano Terme (another spa), Nizza Monferatto (an important market town) Costigliole D'Asti, San Stefano Belbo, Mango, Cocconato, Gavi and many others. Each town holds its own Sagra (festival) featuring local wines or local delicacies, and there is a festival somewhere nearly every weekend.

A few hours drive south from this Italian Bed and Breakfast, Piedmont and you arrive in Genoa and the Liguria region, a long arc of land nestled between the mountains and the sea. Genoa is an historic seaport, once an important and rich republic, the rival to Venice for influence in the Mediterranean, and the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. This city, still the biggest seaport in Italy is a fascinating mixture of new Genoa with its wide boulevards and smart buildings and old Genoa, a maze of small streets and alleys, with a real sense of living history. The Ligurian Riveira comprises two sections. West of Genoa is a string of beach resorts such as Allassio and San Remo, running all the way to the French border and beyond to Monte Carlo and the French Riviera. East of Genoa it's more rugged: fishing villages with cliffs dropping into the ocean and famous resorts such as Santa Margherita and Portofino and the world-famous Cinque Terre villages. Drive inland from the beaches and in 20 minutes you are in hillsides with olive groves, vines and old villages looking as if time has stood still.

Drive North from this B&B close to the town of Asti, Piemonte, head through Allesandria and the rice paddies of the River Po plains, and in an hour you are in the Val D'Aosta, Italy's smallest and most Alpine province: it feels like Switzerland. The Aosta valley has been a natural passage through the Alps since Roman times, a land dotted with castles and now on the road leading to the Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc) tunnel with France. Don't miss Lago Maggiore to the east of Aosta, with the gorgeous Isola Bella, an entire island landscaped into a baroque garden and palazzo.

And Turin, the nearest big city, combines a modern city known for its auto and film industries with the grace of the former seat of the Royal House of Savoy.

Turin is a charming city with baroque architecture, wonderful piazzas and coffee shops, spacious streets lined with porticos, and with the Alps as a backdrop. There are excellent museums (including the second largest Egyptian museum in the world, the auto museum of course and a magnificent cinema museum), many palaces and of course the famous Shroud of Turin, kept in the Duomo. A wonderful place to visit, all the better in that it doesn't attract as many tourists as Rome, Venice or Florence.

[ View on Google Map | map of Lombardy ]