Tuscany or Piedmont: Which Italian Wine Region Should You Visit?

If you're planning a wine trip to Italy and can't decide between Tuscany and Piedmont, you're not alone. Both are iconic wine regions offering unforgettable food, wine, and scenery—but they deliver very different experiences. After exploring both regions multiple times, here’s my honest take to help you choose—or better yet, plan for both.

Want my curated list of the best wine bars, restaurants, and wineries in both regions? Check out the Travel Guide + Saved Google Map for Tuscany and Piedmont — packed with insider finds and trip-planning tips

🍷 Wine: Barolo vs. Brunello, Chianti, or Super Tuscan (and beyond)

Piedmont is home to the legendary Barolo and Barbaresco, made from Nebbiolo grapes known for their floral nose, structure, and aging potential. You’ll also find great value in Langhe Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Barbera, and the lesser-known Roero and Gattinara wines.

Tuscany, on the other hand, leans into Sangiovese. From the rustic charm of Chianti Classico to the power of Brunello di Montalcino and the polish of Super Tuscans (Cabernet and Merlot blends), it’s a broader, more varied scene.

My take: I’m team Barolo for its complexity and nose, but I’ll never say no to a well-made Brunello. If you’re newer to Italian wine, Tuscany might feel more approachable.

🍝 Food: Truffle vs. Bistecca

Piedmont is rich and decadent: think truffles (especially in fall), hazelnuts, creamy tajarin pasta, raw beef (carne cruda), and hearty mountain cheeses.

Tuscany is rustic and bold: bistecca alla fiorentina, wild boar ragu, ribollita, and local olive oils take center stage.

My take: Both regions have amazing food, personally feel like Tuscany get be a bit heavy especially for multiple days. I’m also a seafood lover and saw a bit more seafood options in Piedmont.

🌄 Scenery: Charming with hillside views vs. Expansive vineyards with a bit a glitz

Tuscany delivers iconic views: rolling hills, cypress-lined roads, and golden-hour everything. It’s what you picture when you dream of Italy.

Piedmont is more intimate: fog-covered vineyards, tucked-away villages, and glimpses of the Alps. It’s quieter, more soulful.

My take: If you’re looking for that “Under the Tuscan Sun” moment, go Tuscany. If you’re into slower travel and wine village hopping, Piedmont is magic.


🚘 Convenience: Spread Out vs. Compact

Tuscany is larger and more spread out. You’ll need a car and should plan to visit one or two towns max per day. Decide if you want to focus on Montalcino di Brunello, Chianti, or Super Tuscan.

Piedmont is compact compared to Tuscany. Base yourself around Alba or Barolo and you’re within 15–30 minutes of many top producers.

🏨 Stays & Winery Visits

Because it’s larger, Tuscany has more vineyard stays, agriturismos, and castles. Many estates have formal tasting rooms and panoramic terraces.

Piedmont is more personal: tastings often happen with the winemaker or family members. It feels less like a wine tour, more like being welcomed into someone’s home.

✈️ Getting there

Tuscany: Easily reached by car from Florence (~1.5 hours) or Rome (2 hours)

Piedmont: Fly into Milan or Turin. About 1.5 hr drive from Milan or you can take a train directly to Alba from Turin.

💡 Final Thoughts: Do You Have to Choose?

Honestly? If you have the time, do both. But if you’re short on days or looking for something specific:

  • Go Tuscany for scenic cypress trees, bigger estates, and meat focused food.

  • Go Piedmont for charming towns, intimate winery visits, truffle season, and Nebbiolo magic.

And you don’t have to plan it all from scratch.

👉 Get the Tuscany or Piedmont Travel Guide with my saved Google Map and itinerary planning tips. It’s filled with a list of wineries, restaurants, and wines to try from the region.

Best things to do in Santa Barbara: Itinerary for wine lovers

Santa Barbara is such a charming town with a blend of Spanish colonial influence and coastal California vibe. It’s also a great destination for wine lovers with several wine regions near by and multiple tasting rooms in downtown. I recently spent two days in Santa Barbara to explore the wine and food scene and here are some of things I recommend adding to your itinerary if you are planning a trip there!

Sterns Wharf Pier

Walk the historical pier and enjoy the view. Perfect to grab a snack or drinks.

  • Santa Barbara Shellfish Company

  • The Oyster Bar

  • Moby Dick Restaurant

Visit wineries in Lompoc or Santa Ynez

Lompoc and Santa Ynez are two main towns with wineries and only 40-50minutes drive away.

  • Santa Ynez: Sunstone, Liquid Farm, Lincourt

  • Lompoc: Tyler, Sandhi/Domaine de la Cote, Hilt, Ampelos, Sanford, Chanin

Read more about some of the wineries here.

Wine tasting in downtown

If you can’t drive out to Lompoc or Santa Ynez, there are still tons of wine tasting options in downtown.

  • Santa Barbara Wine Collective

  • Whitcraft Winery

  • Melville Winery

  • Potek Winery

Eat all the food

Santa Barbara is home of sweet Santa Barbara Uni and also has tons of great food options from tacos, seafood, and wine friendly cuisines like Spanish tapas, French, and Italian. Check out these top restaurants for great food and wine.

  • The Lark

  • Lilly's Taqueria

  • Tondi Gelato (this is a Gelato place but one of the bests I’ve had outside of Italy)

  • Bouchon

  • Loquita

Best Wineries to visit near Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara’s wine country might not as big as Napa or Sonoma but offers a unique coastal terroir that produces cool-climate wines. Especially fun for Pinot and Chardonnay lovers! I enjoyed my visit at these two wineries:

Tyler Winery's Mae Estate

Winery started with a passion for Burgundian varietals, they focus on Pinots and Chardonnays from their mae estate vineyards and single vineyard wines from other popular vineyards in the area like Sanford & Benedict and La Rinconada,

Tasting fee: $50

Variety: Pinot, Chardonnay, Rosé, Sparkling wine, Cabernet Sauvignon

Sandhi & Domaine de la cote

Founded by Sommelier Rajat Parr, they focus on low-intervention winemaking with most of their Pinots made with whole cluster fermentation (fermenting the grapes with stems). Tasting room is located in downtown Lompoc but their vineyard is located nearby.

Tasting fee: $50

Variety: Pinot, Chardonnay, Syrah, Sparkling wine (traditional method)

Other wineries

I wasn’t able to visit these wineries due to limited time but have heard good things about their wines if you are looking for cool climate Pinots and Chardonnays.



The Ultimate 2-Week Croatia Itinerary: Best Destinations, Tips, and Hidden Gems

Planning a trip to Croatia and not sure where to start? This post summarizes top destinations, number of days I spent on each, and suggested routes to help you decide. 

We started on the northern coast and drove down to Split. Best way to move from the northern part of Croatia (Rovinj, Pula) to southern cities (Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik) is either by driving down or taking a quick flight. We didn’t plan on visiting Zagreb, which is the largest transportation hub in the north and wasn’t able to find many options in terms of train or bus that provided reasonable traveling time. 

Rovinj + Pula: 3 nights 

Rovinj was actually my favorite town. Main old town is small but has all the varieties of food, drinks, and so many adorable streets. If you are interested in just seeing the town vs. you can technically see everything in a day.

  • Bar hop: this might sound weird but Rovinj is filled with the cutest bars on small streets! You can spend an entire day visiting all the cute spots to grab a drink! 

  • Beach day 

  • Visit Pula 

Drive down to split or fly from Pula to Split. If you drive down, you can stop by Krka or Plitvice National Park. Toll road between Rovinj and Split was really easy to drive on.


Split: 2 nights 

Split was mainly a stop to access various islands along the coast via ferry but we were glad we spent at least a full day to explore. 

  • Tour the main old town city

  • Beach day or visit near by cities (Sibenik, Trogir)

Hvar: 3 nights 

There are many small islands nearby but with limited time, it’s hard to visit all of them. Hvar is a good base for island hopping or visiting swimming spots via boat so recommend spending a few more days here!

  • Boat tour 

  • Beach + city tour 

  • Stari grad/winery tour 

Korcula: 3 nights 

This is another small adorable old main town. Island itself is actually pretty big so you can explore other parts of the island with more time. 

  • Explore old town

  • Beach day or drive out to western part of the island

  • Winery tour 

Dubrovnik: 1 night  

We flew out of Dubrovnik and felt like a 1.5 or 2 days would be enough to see everything. You can definitely see everything in the old town and go up to the panoramic view point to enjoy what the city has to offer.  

  • Old city tour 

  • View/panorama 

Note that this itinerary prioritizes coastal cities and islands vs. big cities (we skipped Zagreb and didn’t spend too much time in Split and Dubrovnik). If you prefer more historical sites and residential cities, definitely spend more time in Dubrovnik, other cities near Split, and Zagreb.

See more clips and photos from Croatia @fine.vining

Best restaurants and wine bars in Hvar 

Hvar had a good mix of trendy and traditional style restaurants. You can find lots of restaurant options with similar menu items with fresh or grilled seafood and meat. You can take a pick between cozy family run spots or more chic seaside venues. Here are some of the best restaurants and bars I recommend.

Restaurants 

  • Dalmatino: Grilled seafood and meat in the city center. We were greeted with a welcome shot of and after dinner shot of.  

  • Stajun Hvar: Traditional grilled seafood and meat, great appetizers and bread as well  

  • Fig Hvar: Great if you want some change from traditional cuisine. 

  • Konoba "Luviji Rooftop": Traditional cuisine with a view of the fortress. We had one of our best meals here, simple but well done. 

Wine and bar

Wines to try and wineries to visit in Korcula, Croatia

Croatia is a hidden gem of a wine country as most of the wines are consumed domestically and not a lot of people know about their wines. I got to try a few different Croatian wines during my recent trip and loved trying unique grape varieties! One of their island, Korcula, is known as the wine island and is a must visit for wine lovers. Here’s a quick summary of wineries and wines you can find in Korcula. 

Most wineries in Korcula have similar offerings and have below wine varieties for a tasting flight or by the glass 

  • GRK - White wine, only available in Korcula. Unique grape that does not self pollinate and needs Plavac Mali planted next to them to fruit. Dry, subtle minerality, citrus, refreshing with a slight bitterness 

  • Posip - White wine, more widely available around Croatia. Balanced acidity with a full-bodied texture

  • Rosé - Mostly made using Plavac Mali. Light and refreshing with crisp acidity and a touch of salinity from the island's coastal terroir.

  • Plavac Mali - Most common red, rich flavors of dark berries, spices, and earthy undertones.

Wineries to visit

All of these wineries offer a fun view of the town and a bit of the ocean. Tasting flights are usually €12, €20 with snacks, €3-4 by the glass.  

Wineries in Korcula are all very small family owned and operated, and production is limited (especially GRK). Which means they sell out of their bottles by the end of the tourist season in the beginning of October. Highly recommend visiting an adorable wine island and trying their wines! 

Best wine restaurants in Piedmont Italy

Piedmont region in Italy is food and wine lovers’ paradise, known for traditional Italian dishes like Tajarin and Vitello tonnato, top wines from Barolo and Barbaresco, and truffles! I recently spent a few days in the region and had the best time drinking lots of delicious wines and ordering Vitella Tonnato for every meal. I always look for the combination of good food AND a good wine list.

Here are all the places you need to go if you love wine and food. A lot of these places also get bonus points for an amazing view of the vineyards!

La Morra

  • Osteria Veglio: Located on the hill on the way to La Morra, beautiful view. They do amazing pastas, shrimp bisque pasta I had was filled with flavors! We went with the 2019 Conterno Cerretta

Castiglione Falletto (small town next to La Morra)

  • Le torri: Probably one of my favorite meals during the trip. It helped that we were staying at the same hotel, but everything was perfect from the view, food, wine list, hospitality, and dessert. Got to see their huge wine cellar and it was filled with Champagnes and all the best regional Barolos and Barbarescos. Loved the rare grower Champagne we got Jules Brochet, and 2014 Roagna Albesani Barbaresco.

Alba and near by cities

  • La Ciau del Tornavento: Another one of my favorite meals! They have the second largest wine cellar in Italy and it’s simply amazing. Have a few different tasting menu options and they are flexible with substitution so it was easy to enjoy everything from the meal! We had a bottle of Ulysse Collins Les Maillon and 2012 Pavlo Scavino Bric del Fiasc

  • Osteria Lalibera is located in the town center and have great food and wine selection

Turin

  • Ristorante Consorzio: Known for their natural wine selection, overall had great list of French and Italian wines. Had one of the best sweetbread dishes here!

  • Condividere: If you get tired of all the traditional dishes, perfect spot with a lot creative fusion dishes! Had a delicious 2008 Champagne and Jura wine and loved both.

Want the full map with exclusive list of wine bars, restaurants, and producers to try? Get the travel guide including saved Google Map here



Where to stay in Lake Como: Bellagio or Varenna?

Picking a hotel and town to stay can be critical to your trip as it determines accessibility to major attractions you are interested in and influence how you want to schedule your days. This is especially true in Lake Como where lots of small towns are accessible only via ferries.

We did a 2 day trip and if you are planning a short trip as well, you are most likely looking at either Bellagio or Varenna as they are the two most popular cities in Lake Como. Here are a few things to consider when deciding where to stay.

Which is better? Bellagio vs. Varenna

  • Accessibility from the central train station/Miilan: Varenna. Direct train to and from Milan is located in Varenna. This is helpful when you arrive in the morning and want to store your luggage and makes your trip back a lot shorter because you don’t have to consider both ferry AND the train schedule

  • Accessibility to other Lake Como towns : Bellagio. Most ferries to other Lake Como towns leave from Bellagio. If you stay in Verenna, ferry will most likely stop by Bellagio and there are more ferry options from Bellagio

  • Hotel and restaurant options: Bellagio. Verenna is just a smaller town compared to Bellagio. if you have a specific criteria for hotels (walkability, view, price range etc etc), it’s much easier to find options in Bellagio. Most options that I liked were already sold out for Varenna when I tried to book a few months in advance.

  • Prettier town: More of a personal preference, really can’t go wrong. Varenna is a bit smaller and has an adorable vibe while Bellagio is a bit larger. Personally liked the lake view from Varenna and thought Bellagio had adorable small streets everywhere!

Hotels and Airbnbs to stay in

I chose where to stay based on

  • being close to the ferry or train station and restaurants

  • view of the lake

  • good quality to price ration. I didn’t want to to pay a ton of premium for a luxury accommodation at an expensive town!

I debated between Varenna and Bellagio up until the very last minute and ended up going with the Hotel Bellagio. Other options I looked were

Varenna

Bellagio


You can find the full 2 day Lake Como itinerary in this post.

If you end up booking one of the hotels recommended in this post, I may get a small commission at no additional cost to you. It helps support posts like this to bring more travel tips to you!