National Geographic Traveler: Piedmont & Northwest Italy, with Turin and the Alps

by Tim Jepson

National Geographic Traveler Piedmont & Northwest Italy begins its tour of the region with an evocative visit to the beautiful baroque city of Turin, site of the 2006 Winter Olympics. It then heads to southern Piedmont with its lush, rolling, vine-covered landscapes, including a stop in the medieval town of Alba. Northeast of Turin, Lake Maggiore and the other lakes offer a mixture of breathtaking scenery and culture that has drawn the rich...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0792241983
• ISBN13: 9780792241980
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: National Geographic Society
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful Pictures and Wonderful Information

This guidebook focuses on Turin, Piedmont, The Aosta Valley and Liguria. It includes one walking tour of Turin's historic center (Roman Quarter) and three driving tours (The Langhe Region, Lake Maggiore and The Aosta Valley Castles). It also includes articles on interesting facts such as Cafe Life, Fiat, Contemporary Art in Turin, The Slow-Food Movement, Truffles, The Gardens of Lake Maggiore and Giuseppe Mazzini. Plus, there's good information about current Piedmont, history, art (including literature and cinema), food, shopping, entertainment. There's also a very good article about the Holy Shroud and a three dimensional representation of the Molle Antonelliana and the Duomo complex. Except for the main pictures used for Lake Orta and Portofino, they're all beautiful. I didn't give it 5 starts because I think it should've featured maps of other cities (Aosta and Genoa, for example). Besides, all the hotels listed are rather expensive (I loved the B & B recommended at 115 euros per night in Turin, though) and there isn't much information about logistics (just general information about how to get there and move around these three regions). I use the Internet for lodging and logistics anyway, so that isn't a big deal for me in particular. In general, it's quite good, so I highly recommend it. I've checked other guidebooks (Cadogan, Lonely Planet, Touring, etc) and this is so far the one that suits me better.