A thrifty pre-Olympic game plan for Italy

Some people think of Piedmont as a region in North Carolina where you buy furniture. But for the next several months, Italy’s Piedmont (Piemonte) probably will outdraw the land of the Tar Heels. Going there to attend the Winter Olympics in February 2006 might prove to be difficult (most hotel space in Turin, the center of the Games, is already spoken for), but autumn visits are feasible.

September through November is the prime time in Piedmont for wine (the grape harvest is in October), truffles (the Truffle Festival of Alba is in November) and other festivals (film in November in Turin and Asti’s Palio, a horseback pageant, in September). And because prices in this lightly visited region are considerably lower than elsewhere in Italy, it can all be done affordably.

Piedmont’s eastern border is less than an hour from Milan, in a corner of Italy bordering France and Switzerland and stretching into the Alps (hence the Winter Games). It is a landlocked lake- and river-rich region known for its scenic beauty (Lake Maggiore is here), storied history, excellent cuisine and wine regions (Langhe, Monferrato and Roero, producing Asti Spumante, Barbaresco, Barolo) equal to any in the world.

But its heart is graciously urban: The 2,000-year-old Turin (in Italian, Torino) is often referred to as the Paris of Italy. As Italy’s first capital, it boasts a lovely Baroque historic center, stylish Art Nouveau cafes, gracious arcaded streets, elegant palazzi, wonderful dining and shopping, and exceptional museums (not just the inevitable car museum but other world-class gems devoted to Egyptiana and ancient art, as well as the cool 5-year-old Museo Nazionale del Cinema).

One of the best lodging deals in Turin is the Ostello Torino, 011-39-011-487-1152, www.ostellionline.com, the city’s main youth hostel, in a gracious neighborhood that’s an easy stroll downtown. It has dorm rooms for $22 a head but also impeccable private rooms for $25 per person. A step up and more central is the Napoleon. For $118 double, the hotel, 011-39-011-561-3223, www.hotelnapoleontorino.it, offers decor and memorabilia from Italy’s 18th century.

For your meals in Turin, you’ll eat cheaply but well at Rosticceria (12 Via Gramsci 12); at Exki (12 Via XX Settembre), a natural-food emporium; and at Pizzeria Gennaro Esposito (1/g Via Passalacqua), serving the best pie in town. The Torino Card, www.turismotorino.org is about $18 for 48 hours, $21 for 72. It is also available at Turismo Torino Information Points and gets you public-transit fare and admission to 130 area sites, plus performance and tour discounts.

Heading out of town, you’ll find world-class restaurants, pastry shops, chocolate factories, castles, countless wineries -- the most striking are the so-called underground cathedrals in the town of Canelli -- and even truffle tours (Casa del Trifulau, 011-39-347-299-1832, www.lacasadeltrifulau.it).

You can base yourself in larger towns, such as Alba (where the clean and homey Leon D’Oro runs $55 to $75; 011-39-0173-441901), or take advantage of more than 600 agritourism B&Bs; charging about $50 to $100, including breakfast. My favorite is the Locanda del Conte, 011-39-0173-231909, www.cantinadelconte.it, in a charming hilltop castle town between Alba and Barolo; check out others at www.holidaysol.it.

Flights into Milan from L.A. run about $1,300 in July, $860 in October and $760 around the time of the Olympics; you can jet directly into Turin through other European cities at fares that range from comparable in winter to higher in summer.

For more information, visit www.regione.piemonte.it, www.piemonte-emozioni.it, and, for the Olympics, www.torino2006.org.