“The Paths of Barolo”: path red n° 310 / 301
– Barolo – Monforte d’Alba – Barolo
(Italy – Barolo)
relaxing and pleasant trekking in the hills, totally immersed in the vineyards and enriched in my case by
the warm autumn colors.
Let yourself be guided and transported by a unique environment and an extraordinary landscape
Starting location: Barolo 213 m. (CN)
Intermediate location: Monforte d’Alba 480 m. (CN)
Arrival location: Barolo 213 m.
Time required: 1h 45′ outward route and 1h 45′ return route
Timing that does not take into account the visit and tour in the beautiful town of Monforte d’Alba,
to which I devoted about 2h
Elevation gain: 267 m.
Trail markers: n° 310 (for the first section starting in the village of Barolo)
and n° 301 for the second section from the hamlet of Panirole, all the way to Monforte d’Alba
Difficulty level: E [level scale]
Period: all year round
Equipment required: classic trekking equipment
Waste: here’s what you need to know before abandoning it
If you have just wrapped up a stressful week, with lots of work commitments, running, meetings, clients,
issues to be resolved, various problems to deal with…..
What could be better than arriving home, preparing a nice hot bath, music playing in the background, soft light
in the room, and your thoughts racing toward relaxation.
What if I instead proposed that you replace the “hot bath” with a very pleasant walk among the vineyards,
the “music in the background” with silence, the “soft light in the room” with warm autumn colors,
and the “thought running toward relaxation” with your gaze scattered among endless hills and wonderful villages?
This is what awaits you if you go on trail No. 310 that leads from Barolo to Monforte d’Alba and
then back to Barolo.
A totally relaxing trek with a great welcome in Monforte d’Alba.
Make yourselves comfortable that I will tell you about today and once again the magic that these places
that are extraordinary in everything from start to finish hold.
Welcome or welcome back to the pages of our website.
It is a gray, autumn day in late October, but with pleasant temperature and still plenty of desire to be outside,
to go and discover some new treks in these Unesco heritage areas and beauty that will enchant you.
The starting point is the village of Barolo, which I reach early in the morning and where you park your car.
There are at least two different routes from Barolo to Monforte d’Alba.
Today I wanted to discover and document trail n° 310 also called the “red trekk”
and I anticipate that I was very pleased with it for the many reasons that I will shortly go into.
Follow these directions to take the correct path.
When you arrive in Barolo reach Piazza Cabutto, cross Provincial Road SP163 going to take via Vittorio Veneto
which we are going to walk slightly uphill for a few minutes until we reach a fork.
If we go right we find via Vecchia Ravera, while if we go left we find via Einaudi.
We need to keep to the right and take (see photo), via Vecchia Ravera also called Strada Vicinale Terlo,
which initially has a short concrete section, and after a few meters turns into a wide beaten earth track.
Here begins a fabulous route through endless vineyards that we find both on our right and left.
The farm road is a false flat, never strenuous, relaxing and pleasant.
On the horizon, the gentle curves of the hills, now partially masked by an early autumn fog, delight our gaze and
provide a sense of peace.
As I walk leisurely, I stop several times to admire the color of the vine leaves that alternate from yellow to brown,
reddish to green, with still a few bunches of grapes that have remained attached from the last
harvest and with a color of the grapes mixed between dark blue and purple.
This goes to “paint” and make an almost fairy-tale-like landscape even more pleasant and richer.
In this first stretch, after about 20 minutes of walking, I turn and admire the village of Barolo on my right,
while on my left, higher up and over a hill I spot the Castello della Volta.
I continue along the farm road that gently veers a little to the right and a little to the left, until I find the first “ciabot”.
In Piedmontese, the term “ciabot” refers to those small stone houses, characteristic of Piedmontese vineyards,
used as shelters for agricultural tools.
The classic “red and white” signs painted on the vineyard support poles, confirm the correctness of our route,
which in this first section sins a bit with the lack of signs, but remains intuitable nonetheless.
We find the first sign after about 25 minutes near a small shed with some goats,
and at the end of this first section of the farm road.
The sign invites us to turn left going for a short distance on a slightly downhill asphalt road that we are going
to follow for about 200 meters, before we find another sign that will make us turn right,
with the number of path 310 and the sign for Monforte d’Alba.
We thus return to the middle of the vineyards for another good hour of walking.
On the horizon before our eyes, endless hills all cultivated with the vineyards that here represent the gold
and fortune of these areas, appreciated by the whole world for the quality of the wine produced each year.
Barolo is born in the heart of the hills of the Langa, tended and cultivated by expert hands and “guarded” by
imposing medieval castles, including the very castle of Barolo that gave its name to the wine, now famous
throughout the world.
The woods and the rows of vines, the light wind and the mists, make this hike a poem.
The gurgling of the rivulets are the only noises to be heard, other than the crunching of the earth beneath our feet
that occurs along the paths that follow the uneven course of the hills.
The great variety of elusive landscapes never bores, in fact it leads us to want to discover and wander around these
unique places that I frequent in all seasons of the year, to appreciate the changing nature and transformation
of these areas at different times.
The Langhe has always been able to fill my eyes and heart, and I have repeatedly let myself be guided
by the many paths drawn on the land.
Slightly downhill, then flat again and then on a slight ascent, I continue through the vineyards until I reach
the locality of Panirole 363 m.
Here, near a rest area equipped with benches and tables, I find an “open book” with the pages reproduced in stone
and placed on a wrought-iron bookstand.
Written inside is a story and a thank you to two spouses from the hamlet of Panirole who, in the fall of 1943
and until April 1945, gave hospitality to a Jewish couple with a 2-month-old baby, to make sure that
they were not taken prisoner by the frequent Nazi round-ups.
These two husband and wife residents of the hamlet of Panirole, Giovanni and Genoeffa Blangino, demonstrated
that in the horror and fall of the values of civilization, it is still possible to give an exemplary lesson
in humanity and hope.
From the hamlet of Panirole one crosses the paved road and continues following the signs
in this case of trail n° 301
We will cross some more vineyards, and then take a secondary paved road that, between ups and downs,
will lead us to the small Chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
From here we travel about 10 minutes of the provincial road, then arrive in that gem of a village,
Borgo di Monforte d’Alba, which I enter going up via Boeri.
Monforte d’Alba is a small medieval village that has joined the 2018 edition of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages,
and is pleasantly besieged and surrounded by Barolo vineyards.
Steep and narrow cobblestone streets, adorned with characteristic street lamps, lead me in a romantic
and poetic up and down until I reach the heart of this village, represented by the Antica Chiesa square where
we find the most significant historical buildings.
First among them towers the Bell Tower, originally created as a lookout tower and later as a bell tower.
But you will be enchanted in front of the natural amphitheater, the Horszowski Auditorium, opened in 1986 and
carved out of grass-covered stone steps, which boasts such perfect acoustics that it has been the site of
theatrical performances and film screenings, as well as major concerts.
A stage out of time and the norm, where in the evening you will be bathed in its soft light and the silence of
the ancient walls, all under the open sky.
But it was here that I was surprised and pleasantly amazed by music that resonates through loudspeakers
throughout the plaza, creating a very pleasant atmosphere that once again provided that touch of originality
that only these places can offer.
A great welcome, a well-kept environment, a magical place.
Here in the heart of Barolo, one of the Italian wines par excellence obtained from Nebbiolo grapes and appreciated
all over the world, we have under our feet a village of priceless beauty to be discovered step by step.
Enchanted, I lean on a stone wall to look out into the horizon of a typical autumn day at
these hills and these evocative routes that by the hundreds cross one of the most beautiful parts of Italy
and that the whole world envies us.
I aim to walk all of these trails, to be able to document and narrate them, and to try to witness and
share the richness of these places.
I would like to point out that at the Monforte d’Alba Tourist Office, which is located on Via Della Chiesa,
you will find important brochures and directions for trekking and hiking to be done both on foot and by bicycle.
After a long and pleasant walk around Monforte d’Alba, I take the return path, which is the same path on the way out.
With the gloomy sky and mist of a late afternoon in almost late October above me, I return to immerse myself
in these little farm roads that branch out among the vineyards with a different charm each time.
Little roads that wind in dozens of directions and connect all 11 communes that are part of the Langa.
On the way back I stop to photograph more ciabots, some mushrooms, other leaves with indescribable colors,
because from these places you never want to leave.
Slowly I return by retracing the trail.
I arrive in Barolo in the late afternoon, another uniquely beautiful village.
Thus ends a day spent on a trekking trail in an enchanting, romantic and poetic setting.
A trek that will regenerate you and enrich your spirit, your eyes and your mind.
The thought already runs to the next outings always in these areas, which you will soon find documented
within this column and these pages.
Report, photographs and video footage by: Michele Giordano
Official translator of abitarelestremo: Andreina Baj
Notes: trail n° 310 from the village of Barolo to the village of Monforte d’Alba is relaxing, pleasant and winds
all the way through endless vineyards.
The views of the gentle curves of the Langa hills are extraordinary.
The colors, the scents, the silence, the views, will always be by your side, offering a pleasant environment at
all times and with which you will fall in love and be bewitched.
Monforte d’Alba is a beautiful village, with a perched historic center formed by narrow, winding streets
all cobbled.
A village to see, to experience and to love.