• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Hotel Savona (from 67 euros) is steps from the Mercato del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba, a market with hundreds of kilos of truffles under one tent. Bargain room rates and proximity to the main drag, Via Vittorio Emanuelle, offset the cheesy interiors.

The view from Casa Pavese Hotel.    (Photo: Courtesy of Casa Pavese Hotel)

Two friendly sisters run the B&B-ish Casa Pavese Hotel (from 140 euros), near the Grinzane Cavour castle. (Visit the enoteca there.) Request a room with a whirlpool and vineyard views.

Relais San Maurizio overlooks a centuries-old park of olive and beech trees.   (Photo: Courtesy of Relais San Maurizio)

The Hotel Le Torri (from 84 euros) has eight rooms, six of which offer views of the surrounding hills. Down the road is the Ceretto Winery — home of a controversial glass box structure that is a monument to Barolo and the founding brothers' answer to I.M. Pei's pyramid at the Louvre.

What was once a seventeenth-century monastery is now the Relais San Maurizio (from 160 euros); you'll stay in a repurposed cell. Most suites have open fireplaces, and the pool overlooks vineyards. In the Vinothérapie Spa, get a rubdown with grape extracts and red-vine oils.

Published on Oct 11, 2006 as a web exclusive.