Why this ride
A 206 km round trip from Govone - roughly 3 h 55 in the saddle. On the way it passes Grinzane Cavour Castle, Canelli and Asti Spumante, Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe and back through Canelli and Asti Spumante.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Castello di Govone and Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 206 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Castello di Govone → Grinzane Cavour Castle
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 26 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Castello di Govone
Govone is a village of eight hundred people in the Roero, the hilly country on the left bank of the Tanaro across from the Langhe, and it is dominated by a palace far too grand for its size. The Castello di Govone was a residence of the House of Savoy, rebuilt in the baroque style in the eighteenth century, and it is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inside are rooms decorated with Chinese wallpaper, and outside, terraced gardens look down over the valley.
Read the complete Castello di Govone write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castello di Govone is where the day begins. Next is Grinzane Cavour Castle.
2. Grinzane Cavour Castle
Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the man who more or less engineered the unification of Italy, spent years as mayor of this little Langhe village before he went on to bigger things, and the square brick castle on its knoll still carries his name. He experimented with winemaking here too, at a time when Barolo was still finding its modern form, so the building sits at a neat crossroads of Piedmontese politics and Piedmontese wine.
Read the complete Grinzane Cavour Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grinzane Cavour Castle comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Canelli and Asti Spumante.
3. Canelli and Asti Spumante
Under the streets of Canelli runs a second town, made of brick tunnels and vaulted galleries cut into the hillside, where for well over a century sparkling wine has rested in the cool and the dark. The locals call them the underground cathedrals, and they are the reason this small Piedmontese town is part of the UNESCO listing of the vineyard landscapes of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. Canelli was one of the places where Italian sparkling wine was pioneered in the nineteenth century, using the local Moscato grape, and the town's big wine houses still welcome visitors into their cellars by appointment.
Read the complete Canelli and Asti Spumante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Canelli and Asti Spumante. Next is Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe.
4. Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe
Barolo the village has a few hundred inhabitants and a castle; Barolo the wine has a worldwide reputation built on the Nebbiolo grape and on the peculiar soils and slopes of these hills south of Alba. Around the village, the Langhe rise in steep ridges striped with vineyards, each hill crowned with a village, a castle or a church tower: La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, Novello. In 2014 UNESCO listed the vineyard landscapes of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato for the way centuries of winemaking have shaped every slope, every row, every cellar.
Read the complete Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe, about halfway. Next is back through Canelli and Asti Spumante.
5. back through Canelli and Asti Spumante
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Canelli and Asti Spumante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Canelli and Asti Spumante sits at 123 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grinzane Cavour Castle.
6. back through Grinzane Cavour Castle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grinzane Cavour Castle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Grinzane Cavour Castle comes up about 181 km into the recorded legs. Next is Castello di Govone.
7. Castello di Govone
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castello di Govone write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castello di Govone closes the day.
Leg by leg
Castello di Govone to Grinzane Cavour Castle
Castello di Govone → Grinzane Cavour Castle is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grinzane Cavour Castle to Canelli and Asti Spumante
Grinzane Cavour Castle → Canelli and Asti Spumante is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Canelli and Asti Spumante to Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe
Canelli and Asti Spumante → Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe to back through Canelli and Asti Spumante
Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roe → back through Canelli and Asti Spumante is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Canelli and Asti Spumante to back through Grinzane Cavour Castle
back through Canelli and Asti Spumante → back through Grinzane Cavour Castle is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grinzane Cavour Castle to Castello di Govone
back through Grinzane Cavour Castle → Castello di Govone is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.