Car rental in Asti

Although only a 50-minute drive separates it from Turin, Asti is not the first Piedmontese city one normally thinks of as a destination for an out-of-town trip. However, well known are Asti’s typical products, especially its wine products, the real driving force behind the local economy. Why not, then, combine a food and wine tour with the counterparts with an in-depth exploration of the city? The homeland of the eponymous Moscato is in fact a small jewel of medieval architecture, into which Art Nouveau inspirations were later grafted. Such is the case with Corso Alfieri, a street of shopping, nightclubs, and one of the main arteries of the historic center. Gothic is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and San Gottardo, built around the 10th century with the exception of the bell tower, which dates instead from 1266. Another symbol of the city is the Trojana Tower, known more simply as the Clock Tower: its bell, in fact, has always been an important presence for the people of Asti, who are accustomed to marking their lives by its chimes. Other towers stand in the city center, including the red San Secondo Tower, which is even earlier in age since it was built, in its first part, in Roman times, and then enlarged with the addition of a tuff piece around the year 1000. It later became the bell tower of the Church of San Secondo, dedicated to the town’s patron saint. Another evidence of Roman times is the Domus, dating from the 1st century AD. , in Via Verrone, rich in mosaics that constitute a rarity in this area. Strolling through the streets of the city center, the red bricks used for medieval buildings and the great arcades of the 19th-century period immediately jump out at you, which together make Asti a sumptuous, elegant, grand city. But the city’s attraction also lies, as we said at the outset, in its food and wine offerings: although it can be enjoyed freely throughout the year, it is worth popping in here in September, when one of Italy’s most important wine competitions, the Douja d’Or, is organized, and it is worth taking advantage of it to taste the sublime products of the local grape varieties. At the same time, a large fair is held, the Festival delle Sagre, in which every municipality in the province participates with its own specialties, totaling more than 80 different dishes. This is an event to mark in the calendar along with the Palio, an equestrian “bareback” race organized at the end of August in Campo del Palio Square, a majestic square a stone’s throw from the town station.