Piemonte · Cuneo
Guarene
A Roero hilltop village above the Tanaro, whose Roero family baroque castle is now a luxury hotel and contemporary art destination.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Guarene is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Bandiera Arancione and Spighe Verdi.
Subscribe and you get Guarene's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 1 h 2 min from Turin
- Population
- 3,532
- J7°
- F11°
- M13°
- A17°
- M21°
- J26°
- J29°
- A29°
- S24°
- O18°
- N11°
- D7°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Guarene sits on the left bank of the Tanaro, the last hill of the Roero before the river crosses to Alba and the Langhe. The Roero family, powerful Asti bankers, took the village in 1379 and held it until the line ended with Count Alessandro in 1899. Count Carlo Giacinto Roero rebuilt the medieval fortress between 1726 and his death, turning it into a baroque summer residence; his sons completed the work and hosted the king and queen of Sardinia here in 1773.
The castle is now a Relais & Châteaux hotel with a small museum. On the slope below the village, the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo opened Palazzo Re Rebaudengo in 1997 as its first contemporary art space; the foundation added an open-air sculpture park in 2019 with works by Carsten Höller, Marguerite Humeau, and Paul Kneale set among pear orchards and Nebbiolo rows. The town holds four designations at once: Borghi più belli, Bandiera Arancione, Spighe Verdi and Città del Vino.
How to get there
From Turin (TRN), about 1 h 20 min by car.
Genoa (GOA) is about 1 h 44 min away.
By car from the center of Milan 1 h 53 min.
Coming by train into Torino Porta Susa? Guarene is about 1 h 1 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Turin airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello di Guarene
Eighteenth-century baroque castle rebuilt 1726 by Count Carlo Giacinto Roero from a medieval fortress, now a Relais & Châteaux hotel.
Palazzo Re Rebaudengo
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's first contemporary art space, opened 1997 in an eighteenth-century palazzo in the village.
Parco d'arte Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Open-air sculpture park opened 2019 with works by Carsten Höller, Marguerite Humeau, and Paul Kneale among Nebbiolo rows and pear orchards.
Chiesa parrocchiale dei SS. Pietro e Bartolomeo
Baroque parish church in the village, with eighteenth-century stuccoes and altarpieces commissioned by the Roero family.
Belvedere di Guarene
Lookout terrace at the top of the village over the Tanaro and across to Alba and the Langhe hills beyond.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
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.
Io e LunaRistorante
Io e Luna holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Limonaia del Castello di GuareneRistorante
Two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100), at Limonaia del Castello di Guarene.
Pico Bistrot in MadernassaBistrot
Pico Bistrot in Madernassa carries two Gambero Rosso tables.
1 more place the guides name in Guarene
Castello di GuareneHotel
Castello di Guarene holds a place in the Michelin hotel guide.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Guarene is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 3,532, with Alba (30,987 people) 11 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Asti, a city of 73,440, is 32 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
We measured every town in the region on these rules, by its drive to Turin, the city we moved to: Moving to Turin and Piedmont.
- Population 3,532, up 0.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Asti, 32 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Verduno, 11 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €970 to €1,450 per m² to buy, €3.10 to €4.10 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 83% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Cuneo airport (CUF), 47 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Turin, 1 h 2 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
8% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, North Macedonia and Morocco, against 9% across Italy. 10 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 189 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 23% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Cuneo province ranks 27th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Verduno, 11 km as the crow flies. It has a children's emergency room too. The nearest major one is in Turin, 47 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Turin, 37 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.95% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds between 0.5% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Piemonte spends about €2,240 a month, €580 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €467 a year for water, on the Piemonte average. In Cuneo, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.34 and a meal in a pizzeria €12.38.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 3% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 4% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
ROERO CASTLE
Eighteenth-century baroque castle of the Roero bankers of Asti, rebuilt from 1726, now a Relais & Châteaux hotel and museum.
SANDRETTO ART
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's first venue, Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, plus a 2019 sculpture park in the surrounding vineyards.
ROERO HILLS
Sandy hill country across the Tanaro from the Langhe, producing Roero Arneis and Roero DOCG Nebbiolo at 350-400 meters.
Common questions
- What is Guarene known for?
- Guarene is a Roero hilltop village at 360 meters above the Tanaro, whose Roero family baroque castle is now a luxury hotel and contemporary art destination.
- Where is Guarene?
- Guarene is a comune in the province of Cuneo, in Piemonte.
- What is the nearest airport to Guarene?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Cuneo (CUF), about 47 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Milan to Guarene?
- About 1 h 53 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Guarene?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Guarene?
- Castagnole delle Lanze, Neive and Dogliani.
- How many people live in Guarene?
- 3,532 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Guarene a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Guarene is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Alba, 11 min). The nearest city, Asti, is 32 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Verduno, 11 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 83% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 360 m
- Population: 3,532
- Surface area: 13.45 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.
The ranked lists
Lists Guarene appears in
- The prettiest villages in the province of CuneoCuneo provinceprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 87 residents
- The prettiest villages that eat well in PiemontePiemonteeats wellprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 617 residents
- The 7 best small wine towns with a serious restaurant in PiemontePiemontewineserious restaurantsmall7 towns · smallest 497 residents
- The best towns worth staying overnight in PiemontePiemonteworth staying overnight7 towns · smallest 497 residents
- The best wine towns in the province of CuneoCuneo provincewine8 towns · smallest 497 residents
- The prettiest villages within 90 minutes of TurinNear Turinwithin 90 minprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 102 residents · closest 57 min away
Featured on
Guarene appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Guarene
What all six share with Guarene: between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns
Castagnole delle Lanze
Province: Asti
both inland, away from the coast
Neive
Province: Cuneo
both inland, away from the coast
Dogliani
Province: Cuneo
both inland, away from the coast
Chiusa di Pesio
Province: Cuneo
both inland, away from the coast
Acquaviva Picena
Province: Ascoli Piceno
both inland, away from the coast
Châtillon
Province: Aosta Valley
2 h 8 min apart by road
The letter
Guarene 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Guarene comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Camogli, 98 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.