There is a famous verse in Carducci’s poetry about the exalted soil of Aleramo with its castles and vineyards - l’esultante di castella e vigne suol d’Aleramo -. These few words sum up the Monferrato, a historical and geographical area in Asti Province. Though the smallest in Piedmont, this province is one of the richest on the level of its wines and foods. It is an area of sweet rolling hills that are often embellished with villages, castles, and bell towers. To all this we can add its enormous patrimony of multicoloured vineyards that create an unequalled panorama. This spectacle of colours transforms itself from season to season in its different tones. The Asti area has a good number of those castles that Carducci wrote about. There are castles at Piea and San Martino Alfieri with its splendid nineteenth-century construction. There are the castles in Castell’Alfero and Montiglio. The Costigliole castle was once the residence of the Countess of Castiglione, but is now the home of an international school of Italian cooking. The Cisterna castle houses the Museo di Arti e Mestieri di un Tempo, a traditional crafts museum that reconstructs workshops and activities that are now in disuse. Tourists can go on many different trips in Monferrato: they can visit places connected to Alfieri or baroque residences and palaces, as well as medieval castles and towns or Romanesque buildings, and then of course great food and wine and many folk festivals.
There are also golf courses and many museums. We can come across small villages and interesting resorts in the hills, some of which are very popular not only for their historic or artistic heritage. Acqui Terme for example is renowned as a state-of-the-art spa resort, which was already known to the Romans for its therapeutic waters that pour out at a temperature of 75°. Visitors can also go back in time through the many folk festivals that are held throughout the year such as the race of the Palio in Asti, the Assedio di Canelli (Siege of Canelli) and the Festival delle Sagre (Village Fairs Festival) in Asti.

HOW TO MOVE

by Car

by Train

By Bus

Acqui Terme: eating the "panisa"