We want to paint you a picture of a vineyard walk in Barolo: ahead of you is a medieval town. It’s nestled deep within wooded hills and crowned with a fairy tale castle, flags fluttering. You’re meandering down a path through beautiful steep-sided valleys braided entirely with lush green grapevines. It’s sunny but the air is fresh. As you walk you catch glimpses of the Alps far far ahead, their snowy caps just about visible on the horizon.
This, friends, is our experience of Piedmont. Or more specifically the stunning Barolo Valley in Piedmont, the only UNESCO wine region in the world.
We’ve spent three months here. In that time we’ve done everything from hunting for truffle, to strolling with gelato down the elegant streets of Turin.
But we keep coming back to those valleys of vineyards. So beautiful, so important to the culture and people of Piedmont. And we have found the best way to explore it: our grandly termed ‘best vineyard walk in Barolo’.
The best vineyard walk in Barolo
Start: Barbaresco
Finish: Barolo
Distance: 98km (map of route here)
Time (ie s l o w): 6 days
Barbaresco ~ Neive ~ Treiso ~ Castino ~ Cravanzana ~ Bossolasco ~ Serravalle Langhe ~ Monforte d’Alba ~ Barolo
This walk is officially called the ‘Bar to Bar’, a 100km walk from one famous ‘bar’ to another: Barbaresco to Barolo. These small villages are homes to the two best-known red wines from Piedmont – maybe even from the whole of Italy. You know, just casually.
Interesting places to start and finish for sure. But what would we find between them? This always fascinates us, that into-the-unknown feeling, and it’s one of our favourite things about walking.
So we got a map from the local tourism office and off we went.
We did this pretty easy walk over several weeks, strolling it in little sections. We found it quite well waymarked, but no-one is really on it. Alone, we were soon wandering through the most gorgeous green landscapes, jaw-droppingly perfect in the early evening light. Let’s walk you through it:
Barbaresco to Bossolasco
The starting place of Barbaresco itself is tiny, a one-street wonder. And we realised pretty quickly it is serious about wine; even their little church has been turned into a wine tasting shop (no kidding).
The first stop, winding through 4km of Barbaresco hillsides, is Neive. This village made it onto the list of prettiest Italian villages, and we could see why. It’s the type of village you hope to see in Italy: bright coloured shutters, old palazzi, warm yellow stone.
And then this ‘vineyard’ walk does something interesting: it swerves away from the vines entirely. Away into what’s called the Alta Langhe, somewhere mysterious in Piedmont we knew nothing about. We kinda hoped it would do that to be honest: we wanted to go somewhere secret.
This area starts from Treiso (home to a Michelin-starred restaurant FYI). And it’s sudden: an entirely surprising world of deep swooping valleys, dark stone villages and thick, thick woodland. These fortress-like villages were particularly fascinating to us, like the inexplicably deserted Castino.
We walked through another moody little village too, Cravanzana, famous for one thing: nocciole. Having the best hazelnuts in the world is what Piedmont is famous for you know. Move aside, Barolo.
And hazelnuts really are everywhere: valley floors are carpeted with hazelnut groves, and Ferrero (makers of Nutella and the, er, Rocher) are squirrelling away here too, pumping out the smell of delicious roasted hazelnut into the atmosphere. It wafted over to us every day.
The Alta Langhe is like the anti-Barolo: no neat vine rows, the paths a little overgrown, the landscape wild. But there’s all sorts of life here: as well as hazelnuts we found huge sunflower fields, and glimpsed wild boar and deer in dark truffle woodland.
Bossolasco to Monforte d’Alba
But just as we were finding the walk a bit remote, we spilled out into the cheerful and artsy village of Bossolasco. It’s so lovely, crammed with cafes and galleries, and probably our favourite find on the Bar to Bar.
Then beyond Bossolasco we were walking in the vineyards once again. Miles and miles and miles of them, hugging the sides of the rolling hills.
And it’s way more than just Barolo and Barbaresco wine. There’s Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis, Nascetta. Reds, whites, sweet wines, spumante (fizzy). Just an all-round wine lover’s paradise then.
A lot of the vineyards we walked through are still family-owned wineries. Not your giant visitor centres here – most of the time you need to ring ahead for a member of the family to let you in. People are friendly, earthy and proud of the heritage.
And locals were pretty much the only people we passed come to think of it. The walk literally brushes the shoulders of people at work among the vines. We sometimes sat down for a break outside their tiny ciabots – the little brick shelters dotting the vineyards so prettily.
After puffing up and down a few vine-covered valleys we made it to Monforte D’Alba, the penultimate village on the Bar to Bar – and maybe our favourite. Built up a steep cliff, we arrived at the top and wandered down a maze of narrow streets. And oh my it’s one chic place: old Italian villas, ivy creeping round the doors, sundials hand-painted on the walls. It’s like something from a Bond film.
Monforte d’Alba to Barolo
This final stretch is probably the most photogenic of all the valleys, leading to the surreally beautiful Barolo town. Considering we were walking through some of the prized agricultural estate in the world, it’s relaxed, quiet. Oh and we mean that: we heard from a local that a small parcel of the land here went for 3million euros last year (!)
And then ahead, we can see those flags fluttering in the distance….
Barolo itself is a bustling little place, kinda perfect for lunch after all that. And a chance to reflect: for us this is the best vineyard walk in Barolo because of the variety, of different perspectives on Barolo and its valley. It’s like an odyssey across the vines.
Shorter versions of the best vineyard walk in Barolo: our suggestions
If you’re short on time, we reckon these snippets are some of the best parts of the Bar to Bar:
Barbaresco to Neive
Distance: 4km
The quickest way to take in some beautiful vineyard scenery and two of the best villages in and around the Barolo Valley. There’s even a couple of giant benches to relax on for some reason.
Treiso to Castino
Distance: 19.5km
If you’re interested in seeing beyond the wineries, this part of the Bar to Bar shows you local life and some beautiful wilder landscapes.
Monforte d’Alba to Barolo
Distance: 6km
The grand ending in Barolo, but not before starting in our favourite village Monforte d’Alba, and its beautiful multi-coloured villas.
So that’s our recommendation for the best vineyard walk in Barolo. Share with us in the comments your thoughts.
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Beautiful photos in this blog. The light gives an illuminating clarity to the area and turning the walk into bite size pieces is a great idea for people wishing to explore this part of Italy
This is what I want to do when I grow up! Love your blog and what an amazing journey to go on. Photos are gorgeous and something I am going to put on my vision board. Thank you for your beautiful writing describing in detail all of the medieval villages and towns. So inspiring!
What a lovely message to receive! Thank you very much Rebekah 🙂 🙂
Beautiful photos and an interesting blog post. I hope to travel to this region of Piemonte next year. I am amazed you saw hardly anyone on the trail. You have given me much food for thought, or should that be wine?
Aha, thanks Brendan! It’s such a lovely area, and yes you’ll definitely not find too many other people walking here. x
Helo,
What a great post!
I am planning a similar walk, but I don’t have so much time. I would like to walk among beautiful vineyards and hills – are parts of Bar to Bar trail from Barbaresco to Neive ( 4 km ) and Monforte d’Alba to Barolo ( 6 km ) good for me if I want to walk among vineyards?
Hi there Pawel, sorry for the delay, and thanks for getting in touch!
Those two sections would be very good for walking amongst vineyards. You won’t be disappointed!
Luke
Beautiful! Curious what the weather might be like there around the last week of May.
Hi Kevin, it’s a fantastic walk! Last week of May would be glorious (most of the time). You may get the odd shower. But go at the end of May, you won’t regret it.
Luke
Fantastic. I think we will go for it. Thanks!
I like the idea very much, but how does one find the actual trails?is there a map? Or are you just walking on the road?
There’s a great map and the signposting is fantastic! Hope you managed to walk at least a part of the trail
nice post and beautiful photos. Are the wineries can just walk-in without any booking?
I’d always phone ahead and book time. They’ll all speak English, French, German, Dutch, as well as Italian!
Hi there! Thank you for sharing! How long does the walk from Barbaresco to Neive take? Also, do you have any idea on how long the walk is between Barolo and La Morra? Thank you again!
Sorry this is so late! Probably no use now -and you may’ve gone and walked anyway!- but about 1.5 hours Barbaresco to Neive, and again about 1.5 hours between Barolo and La Morra. Could be longer in hot weather, and take loads of water with you (especially if you’re visiting vineyards..!).
Hello there, I hope you are safe and still travellling. I have been inspired by your blog.
Could you please let me know which local tourist office you got your map from? I might try and contact them.
Hi Carol, still walking, still seeing places, just not sharing it as much anymore! Hope you’re well and enjoying your adventures. Get yourself down to Alba in Piedmont to pick up loads of maps. They’re really helpful there!
for the total 100km walk does anyone have good recommendations on places to stay along the way?