Langa of Barolo and Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
210 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 02
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.
From Barolo it runs 210 km to Barolo; allow about 4 h 02 of riding. On the way it passes Castello di Govone, Castello di Racconigi, Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi and back through Castello di Racconigi. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Langa of Barolo
Fog is the word that gave the Langhe's great grape its name. Nebbiolo comes from nebbia, and in October the mist fills the valleys below Barolo so thoroughly that the village seems to float on a lake of cloud, with the hills of the Langhe rising out of it row after row. The vineyards here are among the most prized in Italy, and the countryside, with its hill-top villages, castles and terraced slopes, has been listed by UNESCO together with Roero and Monferrato. Barolo itself has fewer than five hundred people, a castle once held by the Falletti family and now home to a wine museum, and a main street that is entirely devoted to selling bottles.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Langa of Barolo is where the day begins. Next is Castello di Govone.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castello di Govone comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Castello di Racconigi.
3. Castello di Racconigi
Racconigi is a small town on the plain south of Turin, in Piedmont, surrounded by fields of maize and rice and lines of poplars. It is dominated by its castle, a grand residence of the House of Savoy, which ruled Piedmont and later Italy. Originally a medieval fortress, it was transformed over the centuries into a palace, with Baroque and neoclassical façades, and surrounded by a vast park with lakes, woods and a farm. The castle is part of the UNESCO-listed Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed in 1997.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Castello di Racconigi. Next is Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.
4. Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi
On the southern edge of Turin, at the end of a long straight avenue lined with trees, a bronze stag stands on the dome of a palace that looks like a star dropped on the plain. The Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi was built from 1729 by the architect Filippo Juvarra for King Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy as a hunting lodge, though the word lodge hardly does justice to its grand halls, frescoed ceilings and sprawling wings. It is part of the World Heritage Site of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, inscribed in 1997.