Piedmont Property Blog

One of the joys of living in The Langhe region of Piemonte is its proximity to some beautiful ski resorts. One such resort is Prato Nevoso. It’s situated in The Cuneo Valley at about 1500 metres above sea level and offers 35 slopes that range from easy to difficult. It caters for cross- country skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and off piste work. There’s something for everyone.

We set off from Alba at about 9.00 am and arrived in just over an hour. Being February the resort was busy with mainly Italian families having a day out. Prato Nevoso really caters well for families, there are safe areas for children to sledge down, quad bikes for the more adventurous, go-karts, a ski school, bars, restaurants, hotels and just about every other thing you might need. Basically if you have young kids and someone to supervise them in the children snow play areas, you can go off to ski without worry. Did I mention sitting on a deck chair in the sun relaxing?

I was amazed to see how accomplished the young Italian children were at skiing and it was a joy to see families having fun together on the slopes. During the day somebody got injured skiing and at this point a policeman on a jet ski attended the injured person and within 15 minutes the Air Ambulance had arrived to ferry the person away. I was very impressed. Top marks for safety. On reflection I must say that we had a great day out with our friends from England, and their six year old son just loved it. The next day we all went to watch David Beckham play in Milan. But that’s another story. Stay tuned… 

Winter in Piemonte continues to be very snowy this year with record snow falls recorded for more than thirty years.

Day to day life continues without disruption with local town communities working well to keep the roads and pathways clear of snow and safe.

Nearby Ski areas are experiencing exceptionally good skiing conditions with Limone Piemonte and Mondole Ski currently boasting  250 cm of snow with more snow falling as I write!

Skiing can be found both in the north and south of Piemonte, the areas in the north very well known – Valle d’ Aosta, Sestriere, Courmayeur are just a few…

The areas in the south less well known and not yet discovered by package tourism,  you therefore ski in a relaxed manner and normally with local Italian families.

Limone Piemonte and Mondole Ski have good facilities and offer ski runs for all levels, snowboarding, play areas in the snow for children and of course many bars for those who choose only to participate in the Après-ski.

Mondole ski is infact three ski areas which are linked to each other by piste  - Frabosa, Artesina and Prato Nevosa.

Italians enjoy winter and the snow and its delightful that the conditions are so good for skiing this year

Winter in Piemonte is always truly delightful with regular dustings of snow very welcome by the nearby ski areas, however this year we have experienced record snow falls. The first snow fell in November and we have had regular snow falls thereafter. The most memorable being the snow that began to fall at 10am on Christmas day morning and continued throughout the day and night. The perfect white christmas and an absolute joy for all. Its worth mentioning that the snow is dealt with very efficiently in Piemonte with the main roads kept very clear at all times.

Today was a wonderful day with bright blue skies, crisp cold temperatures, clear mounatin views and the snowy background – a perfect winters day!! and its days like today that make it hard to believe the wonderful warm and dry summers that we enjoy in this region of Italy. I’ve included some photographs for you all to enjoy.

Remember to click on the image for a larger version

How is the property market in Piemonte being affected by the current world financial crisis? 

Are property prices in Piemonte sliding as per the UK and other parts of Europe? 

Is now the right time to buy property in Italy?

These are the sort of questions we are being asked on a daily basis by existing  home owners, the media, and potential new buyers.

Indeed there has been an effect on the current property market here in Piemonte but nothing  as drastic as currently being seen in the UK and other countries.  (more…)

One of things we love most about living here in The Langhe region of Piedmont is the annual Truffle fair which is about to take place in Alba during the month of October.

The streets and piazzas of Alba  host literally hundreds of stands displaying all sorts of products but particularly truffle. The local restaurants offer truffle based menus and tourists  and gourmets from all over the world come to Alba to participate in this carnival which lasts a month.

The town’s local weekly newspaper  (Gazzetta D’Alba) produces a free newspaper in English for the festival which allows tourists to see exactly what is going on  in addition to interesting articles about the history of  Alba  and its association with the truffle.  These tend to go quite quickly as you would expect. (more…)