Turin, Piedmont and Piedmontese Alps, with VIDEOS and WEBCAMS

Piedmont, a region full of emotions, welcomes you just a stone's throw from France. Just go through the Fréjus tunnel by train or car, or cross the countless passes that between the Alpes-Maritimes and Mauritian drive across the border to discover this mountainous Italian region.

There is always a good reason to visit Piedmont: the mountain landscapes, the lakes, the beauty of its cities, including Turin, which was the capital of Italy, and the gastronomy. Let yourself be seduced by this beautiful and rich Italian region

The cities of Piedmont

Turin, a history shared between Savoy and Italy

It is impossible not to start the visit with the city of Turin. First capital of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th century, this city was above all the fiefdom of the Savoy family, who a few centuries earlier had transferred their capital from Chambéry to Turin.

It is through the power of this royal family that the city has become so rich in terms of architecture, monuments, and museum collections. Particularly noteworthy are those of the museum on Ancient Egypt, among the richest in Europe.

The walk along the banks of the Po, the largest Italian river, and the landscape of the Alps from the belvedere on the Superga hill give you the opportunity to admire this industrial city, historic headquarters of Fiat, from greener angles.

Further north, the town of Novara, close to the rice fields, is also worth a visit, especially when the weather is good and you can admire the snow-capped silhouette of Monte Rosa, but it is to Cuneo, to the south, that we will head to find a particular medieval charm.

Cuneo and the Occitan valleys

With its main street lined with arcades, its esplanades which offer a very vast panorama of the Alps, Cuneo welcomes you on its very large main square, which one imagines very lively in ancient times during markets or military reviews. Indeed Cuneo, by its position on the road to France, through several Alpine passes was a garrison town.

While in the rest of Piedmont the Piedmontese dialect is spoken, which mixes Italian and French words, the valleys of the Cuneo mountains, known as the Occitan Valleys, resonate with an ancient language well known in the south of France: Occitan. Same songs, same traditions, same flag. The folklore of Cuneo is the same as in Occitania.

Cuneo is the gateway to the Southern Piedmont Alps. It provides access to many valleys with very different characteristics.

The Alpine Valleys of Southern Piedmont

Towards the south, unsurprisingly, the mountains on the border with Liguria take on a very Mediterranean aspect. In the Mondovi' region, snow is sometimes abundant if the weather conditions bring together humid Mediterranean air and cold Siberian air. There are several ski resorts with sunny areas from the summit of which one can always keep an eye on Monte Viso (Monviso, in Italian), sentinel and sacred mountain for the inhabitants of the Po Valley.

We then find the Val Vermenagna which provides access to France via the Tende pass and tunnel. This is where the Limone Piemonte ski resort is located.

The valley of valdieri, with its Royal Baths, its dam lake and its large spaces suitable for cross-country skiing, is crossed by a ridge line which corresponds to the territory of Isola 2000 in France.

Further north, the Stura Valley connects Italy and France (in Ubaye) through the Larche pass, called Colle della Maddalena on the Italian side. In summer you can also reach the Col de la Lombarde and the magnificent sanctuary of Sant'Anna di Vinadio. Pretty little villages follow one another in the valley, in a more touristy setting: Demonte, Vinadio, Bersezio and Argentera. Stone houses and slate roofs give a rustic atmosphere to the valley.

La Maira Valley, opens out into the plain at the height of Dronero, at the gates of Cuneo, but stands out from the others by its very wild character, especially in its upstream part, on the side of Acceglio and Chiappera.

Monte Viso (Monviso in Italian) is flanked, on the Italian side, by two very long valleys: Val Varaita and Valle Po.

La Val varaita, opens out into the plain towards Saluzzo (Saluzzo in Italian). There are some lovely ski resorts there, such as Sampeyre and Pontechianale. The village of Casteldelfino, like the other hamlets in the valley, forms the Occitan heart of this Italian province. Via the Col de l'Agnel, you can reach France and enter the highlands of Queyras.

La Po Valley, it is famous for its river. The Po is in fact the largest and most powerful of the Italian rivers and it gives life to the whole of the very fertile plain that stretches from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. The sites of Pian del Re e Pian della Regine up the valley give access to the slopes of Monviso in a mineral high mountain setting. Further down, the village of Ostana is an example of the successful restoration of mountain life in a hamlet that had been almost abandoned in recent decades. Today the village is coming back to life. The view of Monviso from Ostana is extraordinary.

The Turin Alps

Val Pellice, fief of the Agnelli family, but also fief of the Waldensian Protestant community, a fairly rare presence in Italy, takes on a harsh but still pre-Alpine aspect with dense forests of deciduous trees. It is a bit like the border between the often dry and southern-looking valleys of the Occitan valleys of the province of Cuneo and the large valleys delimited by glaciers that dominate the landscapes further north.

Val di Susa, entry point to France

In contact with the Hautes Alpes, the mountains become more wooded, the valleys deeper, the snow more eternal. It is in the very long Val di Susa (Valsusa) that we find the main ski resorts of the Milky Way area appreciated by skiers from Turin: Cesana, Sauze d'Oulx, Sansicario and Clavière near the Montgenèvre pass, as well as Sestriere, at an altitude of 2000 meters in the neighboring Val Chisone where we will visit the incredible Fort of Fenestrelle.

A little further on, before crossing into France via the Fréjus motorway and railway tunnel, we find Bardonecchia, a small village with houses covered with slate roofs, in a sumptuous Alpine setting. Sestriere and Bardo (Bardonecchia for short) are the favourite destinations of the Turinese.

At the foot of the Gran Paradiso, on the Piedmontese side, we find the Orco Valley, named after the river that flows through its middle. The valley runs along the southern slopes of Monte Rosa and goes up to the border between Piedmont, the Aosta Valley (Valsavarenche) and the upper Isère Valley in France, at the Nivolet Pass. A string of lakes dot this high Alpine valley upstream from Cersole Reale. It is a valley that is both wild in its landscapes but accessible in summer to all audiences thanks to its passable road that climbs to an altitude of 2600 meters.

The country of Monte Rosa

Further north, its majesty Monte Rosa lets you admire its glaciers in the valleys of Alagna Valsesia and Macugnaga. Territory of the "Walser", Germanic tribes who decided to settle on both sides of Monte Rosa, Valais, Aosta Valley and Piedmont, bringing to Italy the architectural tradition of wooden chalets.

Other more remote valleys around Domodossola, such as Val Formazza and Valle Devero, are well known to hiking and ski touring enthusiasts. Finally, Val Vigezzo provides access to Locarno and Switzerland, north of Lake Maggiore. A small train allows you to admire its famous golden foliage in autumn.

Other treasures around Turin

There is the Piedmont of the mountains, but also the Piedmont of the lakes to which a page of this site is dedicated: Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta. Let yourself be charmed by the gentle Italian way of life around Stresa or the Borromean Islands...

Is it time for dinner? You're in luck! This is Italy, with its delicious gastronomy. Piedmont, land of cheese, meat and wine, knows how to make itself known. It is the land that invented slow food, so let yourself be tempted...

The natural balconies of the Langhe hills south-east of Turin, and of the Roero north of Cuneo, bathed in sunshine, covered with vineyards whose terroirs, Barbera, Barolo, Barbaresco, Dolcetto are known to wine lovers all over the world, face the Alps which you can admire from the terrace of a good restaurant.

Piedmont is a huge adventure playground in the Italian Alps, easy to access, authentic and rich in traditions. It is a little less popular than the Aosta Valley or the Dolomites but you will not be disappointed with a mountain holiday in Piedmont.

Activities not to be missed in Piedmont

Discover from Cuneo the Occitan Valleys: each valley allows you to discover different landscapes, stone villages, larch forests.
Go to ski in the Alps of the Sun in Limone Piemonte, or in Artesina from where you can see the entire Piedmontese Alpine arc.
Taste a Bagna cauda, a vestige of the salt (and anchovy!) road in a restaurant in the old town of Cuneo.
Skiing on the slopes of Sestrière from the start of the season.
Discover the italian charm of Bardonecchia and Cesana Torinese, traditional villages but also a concentration of wealthy second homes of Turinese.
Cultural and gastronomic break at Turin. A very beautiful city which houses a large and famous Egyptian museum, but also an Italian gastronomic capital.
Drink a " bicerin » in the center of Turin. Do you like chocolate and coffee? This drink is for you…
Discover the vineyards and cellars of Langhe, southwest of Piedmont. Magnificent landscapes towards the Alps. Tasting of Barolo, Barbera… the great Italian wines.
Search the sources of the Po, at the foot of Monte Viso (Monviso)
Discover the Mount Rose Piedmontese slope in Alagna or Macugnaga, a traditional village with wooden chalets.
Discover the sanctuary of the Sacro Monte of Oropa in a beautiful location in the mountains near Biella.
Start at Stresa your discovery of Lake Maggiore.

Discovering Piedmont on video

The best webcams in Piedmont

(click on the name of the village)

Bardonecchia : what are the Alps like just across the border?
Sestrière: a view of the station perched on a pass at 2000m.
Castelmagno: a webcam to view the landscape of the upper Valle Grana, west of Cuneo.
Limone Piemonte: what do the Alpes Maritimes look like on the Italian side?
Royal Ceresole: border valley of the upper Isère valley, that of Ceresole is surrounded by very high mountains.
Langhe: land of vineyards, we often see the Alps in the background.
Alagna: at the foot of Monte Rosa
Monte Rosa: View of the glaciers of Monte Rosa, from the Gnifetti refuge.