Piedmont · Asti
Canelli
The Asti Spumante town in the Belbo valley, where 20 kilometers of underground tuff cellars hold millions of bottles at constant temperature.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 22 min from Turin
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 10,021
Known for
ASTI SPUMANTE
Birthplace of Italian sparkling wine; Carlo Gancia produced the first bottle here in 1865 from Moscato Bianco on the Champagne model.
CATTEDRALI SOTTERRANEE
Twenty kilometers of tuff-cut wine cellars under the town, descending to 32 meters; UNESCO World Heritage component since 2014.
CASTELLO GANCIA
Hilltop castle on the Sternia, fifteenth-century fortress turned Scarampi residence in the 1600s, still privately occupied.
DOCG ZONES
The commune also lies inside the Alta Langa, Barbera del Monferrato Superiore and Canelli DOCG production zones.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J8°
- F12°
- M14°
- A18°
- M22°
- J27°
- J30°
- A30°
- S25°
- O19°
- N12°
- D7°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Tommaso, 21 December
Why come
Canelli sits on the Belbo, in the south-east corner of the Asti hills where the Langhe and Monferrato meet. The town is the birthplace of Italian sparkling wine: Carlo Gancia produced the first Asti Spumante here in 1865, on the model of Champagne. Underneath the centro storico runs a network of cellars cut into the tuff by pickaxe and chisel from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, descending as deep as 32 meters and extending about 20 kilometers through the hill below town.
They are called the Cattedrali Sotterranee, and they were inscribed in the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont in 2014. Above ground, the Sternia, a steep stone street, climbs from the Borgo Villanuova past the Torre dei Contini to the Castello Gancia, a medieval fortress transformed into a noble residence by the Scarampi in the early 1600s and still occupied by the Gancia family. The Belbo grows Moscato Bianco, Barbera and hazelnut.
The Sunday letter
Canelli is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Canelli comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.
Read on
Canelli in our articles
The 6 best hidden towns you can reach by train that eat well within 90 minutes of Torino6 towns, Canelli among them.
The best hill towns in the province of Asti6 towns, Canelli among them.
The 7 best towns you can reach by train that have a serious restaurant within 90 minutes of Torino7 towns, Canelli among them.
The 7 best wine towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of Torino7 towns, Canelli among them.
How to get there
From Genoa (GOA), about 1h 28m by car.
Turin (TRN) is about 1h 39m away.
By car from the centre of Milan 2 hours.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Turin, Genoa or Milan?
Coming by train into Torino Porta Susa? Canelli is about 1h 21m away by road.
What to see
Cattedrali Sotterranee
Network of tuff-cut cellars under the centro storico, 20 km of tunnels descending to 32 meters, part of the UNESCO Vineyard Landscape since 2014.
Castello Gancia
Medieval castle on the Sternia hill above town, transformed into a Scarampi residence in the 1600s and now home of the Gancia family.
La Sternia
Historic stone-paved street climbing through Borgo Villanuova to the castle, the original access road to the hilltop fortress.
Torre dei Contini
Viewpoint tower at 371 meters on the Sternia route, with a panorama over the Belbo valley and the south Langhe.
Chiesa di San Tommaso
Medieval church rebuilt in the seventeenth century with a richly decorated Baroque façade and frescoes of Saint Thomas and the Assumption.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Canelli fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
We recommend
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Enoteca di Canelli - Casa CrippaRistorante
Enoteca di Canelli - Casa Crippa holds one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100) and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
San MarcoRistorante
One Gambero Rosso fork (78/100) for San Marco, and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Civico 15Ristorante
Civico 15 carries one Gambero Rosso fork (78/100).
Through the year
What happens here
Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.
National Truffle Fair and San Martin Fairmarket
usually held in November. sagritaly.com
Living here
- Population 10,021
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Genoa, 1 h 28 min drive
- Regional capital Torino, 1 h 22 min drive
Common questions
- What is Canelli known for?
- Canelli is the Asti Spumante town at 157 meters in the Belbo valley, where 20 kilometers of underground tuff cellars hold millions of bottles at constant temperature.
- Where is Canelli?
- Canelli is a comune in the province of Asti, in Piedmont.
- What is the nearest airport to Canelli?
- Genoa (GOA), about 1h 28m by car.
- Can you get to Canelli without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Milan to Canelli?
- About 2 hours by car.
- When is the best time to visit Canelli?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Canelli?
- Yes. National Truffle Fair and San Martin Fair. November is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Canelli?
- Cividale del Friuli, Certaldo and Ovada.
- How many people live in Canelli?
- 10,021 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 157 m
- Population: 10,021
- Surface area: 23.43 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
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