Tucked up in Italy’s northwest corner, with France and Switzerland as its neighbours, Piedmont is a contented, highly civilised region that prizes living well and eating well. It combines slick, smooth-running modernity with tranquil rural perfection. The standard of living is high but the pace of life is notably relaxed and comfortable, and yet everything gets done properly and on time.
As well as being calm and orderly, Piedmont is spacious and extremely beautiful. Gleaming Alps rise in a bright line at its back, descending to lowlands dotted with lakes and then to rolling hills striped with endless, prize-winning vineyards. Well-kept little towns are stocked with handsome old buildings and the well-dressed locals stroll around enjoying an enviable quality of life.
Local food and wine help to make Piedmont such a pleasurable place. Some people say that southern Piedmont in particular is the finest corner of the world for eating and drinking. Certainly it has the greatest density of Michelin-starred restaurants of any comparatively sized area on the planet. Legendary reds such as Barolo and Barbaresco are Piedmontese, as are sixteen other DOCG wines. Knowing that the famous Slow Food and Slow Cities movements began in Piedmont should give you an
