When you’re staying in Italy around the Langhe area, you should definitely pay a visit to the beautiful place Mondovì in Cuneo. This Italian town is located between the mountains and the plains: on one side the town overlooks the plain crossed by the Ellero River which leads to Turin; from the other it is situated on a hill that marks the border of the “Langhe”, the land of truffles and wines.
When you visit this place by car I would recommend to park your car a bit outside the city centre as it might not be really easy to park your car for a couple of hours in the town. On certain days there is a big market on the main parking area and in the town you can park for a max an hour or so. We parked our car for free at a big parking area before you cross the bridge over the river, from where you can easily walk towards the city centre.
While walking through the narrow colourful streets with the blue sky upon de facades and the laundry hanging before the windows I got that ultimate great holiday feeling again. – Mondovì is perfect to stroll around, you’ll find many restaurants and nice boutiques and there are also a lot of beautiful historic buildings that you can visit, like the Chiesa Santi Pietro e Paolo and the Chiesa di San Francesco Saverio.
As I mentioned earlier, the village lays partly upon a hill and is divided into two parts. With the Mondovi Funicolare, a lift that looks like a small metro, it’s possible to go all the way up and back when you want to return. It’s also a really fun experience as the cabin has big glass windows to look through when you go higher and higher.
When arrived you’ll enter the Piazza Maggiore that’s surrounded by restaurants with terraces where you can have a nice lunch or dinner. But the most important thing when you’re above is enjoying the beautiful view of the surrounding area of Mondovi near the Giardini del Belvedere.
Mondovì is not that big, so you can easily explore the town in half a day if you want. But be aware of the lunch breaks between 12 and 3 when most of the shops and public buildings will be closing their doors for s couple of hours. – Another nice thing about this place is that’s not that touristy, the local life is still very visible which I really like when visiting places like this.
No doubt we will visit this town more often when we’re around the area.
