From Turin

Directions to Colletta by road from Turin (Torino) airport

After emerging through customs, exit the arrivals building and cross the road. All the car rental desks are together in a hall facing you, in the midst of a multistorey car park. You will be given a numeric reference for a parking slot in one of the bays on either side.

As you exit the car park, turning left on to the narrow one-way access road, bear left and left again following the signs for the Tangenziale/Autostrada T4 and A6 Savona. Go straight on for a bit, passing the train station on your right, go under a flyover and then merge into the two-lane autostrada heading south (raccordo Torino – Caselle). Soon you will see Basilica Superga on a hilltop first on the right and then ahead to the left. You come off at Exit 1 (Uscita 1), indicated Autostrade Tangenziale, after about 7 kilometres. Very soon there is an important fork at which you must bear left (for Savona, Piacenza, Frejus - NOT for Milano) and join the tangenziale that runs in a semi circle around the west of Torino. The traffic can be very bad here for several kilometres at peak times!

About half way round the tangenziale nord the rightmost lanes fork off for the tangenziale sud (Piacenza/Savona) – which is what you want. Shortly after that the right hand lane forks off for Frejus, which you do NOT want – so carry straight on. After 20 kilometres you must turn off for Savona A6. This is a deceptive exit with an opportunity to miss the turn, and with lanes merging into each other when you really wouldn't expect it! If you do miss it, you will start seeing signs to Genova rather than Savona and shortly you'll come to a money toll at Trofarello. Just beyond this you can exit the motorway, and renter coming back towards the A6 turn off.

Once on the A6, the next stretch of the motorway is very straight and you can normally make good progress even though there are only two lanes. After 14km there is a toll (near Carmagnola) where you must pick up a ticket. Make sure to go into a channel marked 'biglietto' and not into one which is only for 'Telepass'.

Soon after, there is a service area with a reasonable restaurant (Ristop, Rio Colore). You walk to it via a passage under the motorway to the northbound (East) side. For other eating possibilities in the area refer to the Piemonte guide on this site (Bra and Cherasco are not far off-route).

You keep going south on the A6, but at Ceva you have a choice:

  • keep on the autostrada all the way to Savona on the coast, and when you get there turn west towards Ventimiglia and France, following the directions given on this site as if you were coming from Genoa airport. This is the quickest route (1 hour from Ceva to Colletta) unless the autostrada is blocked further along, which can happen at peak times or if there is an accident. By the way, the road gets progressively more and more twisty as you get nearer to Savona, so take care!

OR

  • come off the A6 and head south towards Garessio on the S28. Just before coming into Garessio you turn left and take a twisty scenic route over the mountains towards Albenga (S582). Go over Colle S. Bernardo, through Erli, and then a few kilometres past Zuccarello and just before coming into Martinetto turn right at the Esso petrol outlet and go over the tiny bridge. Now follow the directions from Martinetto. Altogether, from Ceva it takes about 75 minutes to get to Colletta via this route – assuming you don't get stuck behind a lorry while going over the mountain! (Actually, there is another possibility but the road over the pass is steeper and narrower, and I wouldn't advise going this way in the dark! Instead of turning off before Garessio, carry on towards Imperia and just after passing through Ormea turn left at the sign for Prale, Caprauna, and Alto. This will eventually take you through Nasino, and about 4 km further down the road you will see Ristorante/Albergo Scola on the left at the corner of the road leading up the little hill to Colletta.)

Overall, don't expect to take less than two hours for a non-stop journey - and be prepared to take a lot more if the traffic is heavy! If you go all the way on the autostrada the cost is about €14.